Learning objectives
The course aims to provide students with the fundamental notions on climate change and sustainability law.
With specific reference to the Constitutional Law section, the objective is to provide students with the fundamental notions to: the principle of sustainability and responsibility towards future generations, the impact of the climate crisis on the fundamental rights provided and protected in the Constitution, the consequences on the governance of policies to combat and adapt to climate change.
At the end of the Constitutional Law unit, students will be able to
- to recognize, interpret and correctly apply the principles of constitutional law relating to environmental protection and intergenerational responsibility that underlie the policies to combat climate change;
- to know the most recent national and foreign constitutional jurisprudence on the subject of sustainable development and responsibility towards future generations, also with specific regard to legislative interventions in the fight against climate change;
- to independently deepen the study of issues related to climate change as a new issue of constitutional law;
- to independently deepen the study of the "climate litigation" pending before Italian and foreign national courts;
- to apply the acquired knowledge to concrete cases and to support one's own theses with property of language and adequate arguments.
- to recognize, interpret and correctly apply the principles of constitutional law on the protection of the environment, the things of nature, with reference to the contents and implications of the principles of sustainability and intergenerational responsibility.
Prerequisites
Students are strongly encouraged to take the course after exams in: Constitutional Law; Administrative Law; International Law; European Union Law; and Tax Law.
Course unit content
The course explores the role of International Law, European Union Law, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and Tax Law in mitigating climate change and adapting to its negative consequences.
In particular, after the unit dedicated to International Law (cf. syllabus Climate change and the right to sustainability - Prof. Laura Pineschi) and also after the unit dedicated to European Union Law (cf. syllabus Climate change and the right to sustainability - Prof. Marco Inglese), the third unit of Constitutional Law (1 CFU) will deal with the following topics: Future and intergenerational responsibility at the origins of constitutionalism; sustainability as a new paradigm of constitutional law; the constitutional state of the 21st century as an environmental state; the protection of the environment and the things of nature in the Constitution; the constitutional profiles of intergenerational justice: rights, duties, policies; the Institutions for intergenerational responsibility; the State and local powers in the face of the climate crisis; constitutional justice and the climate crisis, the ruling of the German Constitutional Tribunal of April 29, 2021.
Full programme
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Bibliography
- D’Aloia, A., Bioetica ambientale, sostenibilità, teoria intergenerazionale della Costituzione, in Biolaw Journal – Rivista di Biodiritto, special issue n. 2/2019, pp. 645-678
- D’Aloia, A., voce Generazioni future (dir. cost.), in Enciclopedia del Diritto, Annali, vol. IX, Milano, 2016
- D’Aloia, A, Climate change and law. A constitutional Perspective, in L. Westra, C.L. Soskolne, W. Spady, Human Health and Ecological Integrity: Ethics, Law and Human Rights, London, 2012
Teaching methods
The section on Constitutional Law includes both lectures and interactive moments with the students, consisting mainly in the analysis and discussion of the most recent legislation on the subject, of the rulings of the Constitutional Courts - Italian and foreign -, available on the Elly platform.
Assessment methods and criteria
The final exam (only one for the whole course) is written and consists of a multiple-choice test and two open-ended questions.
The knowledge and the ability to understand will be assessed with 10 multiple-choice questions, aimed at verifying the real knowledge of the fundamental concepts related to the five modules.
The ability to apply knowledge and autonomy of judgment will be assessed by inviting the student to discuss the general notions in the light of two hypothetical cases.
The ability to communicate will be assessed by evaluating the student's ability to use appropriate technical terminology and to correctly apply particular rules or principles.
Learning skills will be ascertained through an overall evaluation of the answers provided to the test questions.
Other information
The information related to the other units in which the course is composed are available in the Syllabus of the respective subject referents (Prof. Laura Pineschi; Prof. Francesco Vetrò; Prof. Alberto Comelli; and Prof. Marco Inglese).
