Learning objectives
The aim of the course is to provide students with a general overview of the basic knowledge of the fundamental elements and the main problem of the public law as well as to indicate the basic methodological approach for the understanding and the study of the same matter .
At the end of the course, the students must achieve:
- the knowledge and understanding of the categories of the public law;
- the understanding and the making judgements abilities, that means to understand and comment the laws and the decisions related to the topics studied during the course;
- the applying knowlwdges and the understanding ability as well as the communication skills, that means to apply the acquired knowledges to the concrete cases and to support each thesis with appropriate juridical language and arguments.
Prerequisites
no one
Course unit content
The course is organized into five parts.
The first part of the course will be dedicated to the basic knowledges of the juridical phenomenology (law, legal system and legal provision); to the analysis of the lineaments of the State theory (the concept of State and its constituent elements; the forms of State and forms of Government); to the study of the origins and of the development of the Italian and European constitutionalism and also to the study of the notion of the Constitution and of its hallmarks and of the more important events of the italian constitutional history.
The second part of the course will concern, specifically, the Italian institutional organization. We will analyze the Italian form of government and its evolution; the voting systems; the mechanisms of indirect and direct democracy; each Constitutional Institution, the Regions and the other local governments, the constitutional principles about the jurisdiction; the constitutional justice and the role of the Italian Republic in the international and European legal system.
The third part of the course will concern the study of the law sources (Constitution, primary and secondary sources, the system of the regional sources; the European and the international sources; the relationship between the European Union and the Italian legal system; the peculiarities of the human rights treaties in the Italian legal order).
The fourth part of the course will be dedicated to the study of the fundamental rights and their multilevel protection, through the analysis of national case law (judicial and constitutional cases), and European case law (EU and the ECHR).
Part of the lessons, finally, will be dedicatet to the seminar activities, relating to the role exercited by the political parties in modern democracies, and to their internal organization.
Full programme
The course is organized into five parts.
The first part of the course will be dedicated to the basic knowledges of the juridical phenomenology (law, legal system and legal provision); to the analysis of the lineaments of the State theory (the concept of State and its constituent elements; the forms of State and forms of Government); to the study of the origins and of the development of the Italian and European constitutionalism and also to the study of the notion of the Constitution and of its hallmarks and of the more important events of the italian constitutional history.
The second part of the course will concern, specifically, the Italian institutional organization. We will analyze the Italian form of government and its evolution; the voting systems; the mechanisms of indirect and direct democracy; each Constitutional Institution, the Regions and the other local governments, the constitutional principles about the jurisdiction; the constitutional justice and the role of the Italian Republic in the international and European legal system.
The third part of the course will concern the study of the law sources (Constitution, primary and secondary sources, the system of the regional sources; the European and the international sources; the relationship between the European Union and the Italian legal system; the peculiarities of the human rights treaties in the Italian legal order).
The fourth part of the course will be dedicated to the study of the fundamental rights and their multilevel protection, through the analysis of national case law (judicial and constitutional cases), and European case law (EU and the ECHR).
Part of the lessons, finally, will be dedicatet to the seminar activities, relating to the role exercited by the political parties in modern democracies, and to their internal organization.
Bibliography
For the exam preparation, the student has to study one of the two following books:
- A. Barbera, C. Fusaro, Corso di diritto pubblico, Il Mulino, Bologna, ultima edizione;
- R. Bin, G. Pitruzzella, Diritto pubblico, G. Giappichelli Editore, Torino, ultima edizione;
Furthermore, the student needs a good knowledge of the legislative acts. In this regard, it is recommended: M. BASSANI, V. ITALIA, C.E. TRAVERSO, Leggi fondamentali dell’ordinamento costituzionale italiano, Giuffrè, Milano, ult. ed.
Teaching methods
The course will consist of frontal lessons. During the course, there will also be seminars dedicated to the study of multi-level protection of the fundamental rights as well as to the juridical analysis of the events relating to the Italian democratic experience.
Assessment methods and criteria
For non-attending students:
The exam consists of an oral test. During the exam, the knowledge and understanding abilities will be assessed through at least two questions to verify the knowledge of the matters of the course. The applying knowledges and the making judgements abilities will be assessed through the discussion of the topics analyzed during the seminars. The communicative skills will be assessed through the evaluation of the student's ability to provide the exhaustive juridical arguments, to use the appropriate juridical language and to clarify the meaning of some public law concepts. Finally, the learning skills will be assessed through the transversal evaluation of the answers to the questions as a whole.
For attending students:
The exam is divided into two tests:
- a written exam, about the sources of law as well as about the different forms of state and forms of government;
- an oral test, about the form of Italian parliamentary government, about each constitutional bodies and about the system of protection of fundamental rights.
If the student does not pass the written test, the student will have to take the oral exam on the whole program.
Other information
no one
