Learning objectives
The course is designed to provide students with the achievement of the necessary tools in the field of the protection of dignity and fundamental human rights, through the study of case law and literature. At the end of the course we expect that the student would be able to analyze the topics addressed through different methods of study and interpretation (civil law, common law, supranational courts, etc.) and to improve communicative skills.
Prerequisites
In order to take the exam, Italian students must have the following language skills: English Language B1.
Course unit content
The Course is taught in co-teaching with Prof. Erin Daly from Delaware Law School (Widener University), Prof. Leandro Mancano from Edinburgh Law School (University of Edinburgh) and Prof. Francesco Mazzacuva from the University of Parma and will involve students from the three universities. The course aims to explore the issues of the protection of human dignity and fundamental rights from an international and comparative perspective.
The first module will trace how the recognition of dignity has become identified not only as the source of human rights but as their purpose, and as their guiding value. Human dignity is the heartbeat of the International Bill of Rights and is recognized in most other international human rights documents. But its impact is felt most profoundly in the constitutional of nations in all parts of the world: it is included in the constitutions of more than 170 constitutions around the globe and, increasingly, constitutional courts and tribunals are giving effect to dignity rights in thousands of cases involving all generations of rights, from voting rights, to rights to sexual and gender equality, to rights to education and health, and increasingly to environmental and climate justice. This module will survey these developments and explore the global overlapping consensus about the meaning of human dignity in law.
The second module will focus on the relationship between dignity and fundamental rights in criminal law, with particular regard to sexual freedom, end-of-life issues, repression of hate speech, with a particular attention to homophobia. If in some of these areas the reference to dignity has led to a delimitation of criminalization, in other areas its promotional role has emerged and it is difficult to balance it with the protection of other fundamental guarantees.
A third module will focus on dignity and human rights in the context of EU criminal, and immigration, law. While arguments explicitly based on dignity have not been extensively developed in these areas, dignity has implicitly come to the fore through the prohibition of inhumane and degrading treatments as enshrined in Article 4 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. By focusing on detention conditions in the context of law enforcement cooperation, and deprivation of liberty of non-EU nationals, the course provides the students with in-depth knowledge and critical understanding of dignity-related questions in two extremely sensitive area of EU law.
Full programme
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Bibliography
E. Daly-J.R. May, Dignity Law: Global Recognition, Cases and Perspectives, Hein 2020, selected pages, and notes taken in class and/or handouts published on Elly. Professors will inform the students about the publication of decisions and other materials published on Elly.
Teaching methods
The course will be taught partly remote (18 hours) in May 2023, and partly in presence (18 hours) delivered from 12 to 18 June 2023 at the University of Parma and also students from the two foreign universities will take part to the course. Audiovisual materials will be made available online via the Elly platform. Both in person and remote classes will be structured to encourage the active participation of students and the critical and comparative analysis of the law, including important case law and other legal authorities.
Assessment methods and criteria
The exam will be oral (in English) and the grade system is out of thirty. The questions are three.The questions aim to test the correct understanding of the fundamental concepts of the subject. There are no intermediate exams.
Other information
The students may contact the professors by email or during the receiving hours.
