Learning objectives
The course aims to provide students with the fundamental notions of the special part of Criminal Law, with reference to the interests considered worthy of protection from the law and the method of their selection, as well as the instruments to protect such interests provided by the special part of Criminal Law.
At the end of the course students are expected to be able to know the legal rules contained in the Penal Code and in some special laws that regulates other offenses, to understand the rationale underlying their placement within the system and to perceive the “political" dimension of the criminal law expressed by the special part; to remember the concepts acquired during the course of Criminal Law I and to understand how the general part of Criminal Law interacts with the special one (knowledge and ability to understand); to critically analyze in an autonomous way the jurisprudence and cases taken from reality, identifying the stages of legal reasoning that in relation to them has found development and critical ideas to differentiate them from other cases (autonomy of judgment); to apply the concepts acquired to concrete cases with the purpose to solve them, under the guidance of the teacher, by using the techniques of legal argumentation and public exposure (application skills of knowledge and communication skills); and for those students who will attend the classes, to be able to realize a collective study of cases and elaborate solutions in the context of the proposed mock trial.
Prerequisites
In order to be able to take the exam of Criminal Law II, it is necessary to have passed the following exams: Institutions of Private Law, Institutions of Roman Law and Criminal Law I.
Course unit content
The course concerns, on the one hand, the study of the entire special part of the penal code; the most important introductory concepts of the special part will therefore be analyzed as well as the individual titles of the code, with particular reference to the perspective of protection.
On the other hand, sexual offences, crimes against the psycho-physical development of minors, prostitution and stalking crimes which aim to protect vulnerable persons will be dealt with in depth. The purpose is to make students able to acquire a method of analysis of specific legal problems that the special part of Criminal Law poses and to make them learn adequate techniques of interpretation of crimes.
The second part of the course will be dedicated to mock trial within which some cases related to crimes studied in the first part of the course will be deepened
Full programme
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Bibliography
With reference to the study concerning the whole special part of the penal code, the text is: Elementi di diritto penale. Parte speciale: introduzione e analisi dei titoli / Alberto Cadoppi, Paolo Veneziani. - 7. ed [Milano] : CEDAM/Wolters Kluwer, 2023.
As for the part on crimes against the person, in addition to the previous text, the text is: Elementi di diritto penale. Parte speciale. Volume 2. I reati contro la persona, T. II reati contro i soggetti deboli / Alberto Cadoppi, Paolo Veneziani. – £ ed. [Milano]: CEDAM/Wolters Kluwer, 2023 (260 pages).
It is essential to constantly consult the PENAL CODE and the main special laws, published in appendix to the most widespread editions of the latter.
For those students who will attend the classes, the study of the book relating to crimes against the person (Elementi di diritto penale. Parte speciale. Volume 2. I reati contro la persona / Alberto Cadoppi, Paolo Veneziani. – 2 ed. [Padova]: CEDAM, 2017), will be reduced. Moreover, considering this reduction of the program, these students will have to actively study and discuss in class the practical cases assigned to them in the context of mock trials.
Teaching methods
In order to allow the students to attend the course with advancement, at the beginning of the course the professor will verify the preliminary knowledge of the students and plan a review of some fundamental notions and basic principles.
The teaching activities will consist of oral lectures, and of active learning activities. During the classes, which will focus on the study of the different offences set out in the penal code, great importance will be given to the dialogue and interaction with the class. Mock trials in groups will be carried out For those students who will attend the classes, the cases assigned by the teacher and analyzed in the classroom during the lessons must be considered an integral part of the teaching material.
Assessment methods and criteria
The final summative assessment, with a mark out of thirty, consists of an oral exam that includes at least three questions, with reference to the recommended texts.
The objective of the final oral exam will be to verify, first of all, the comprehension of the general concepts related to the special part of the Penal Code through open questions whose answers should cover all the fundamental elements of the subject matter of application. The final exam also aims at evaluating the student’s ability to use an appropriate legal language, to analyze the different practical cases through by using the acquired notions and to interpret the rules with a systematic method. The threshold of sufficiency will be reached if students will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the fundamental institutes.
The mark of the oral exam is communicated immediately at the end of the exam itself.
Intermediate exams are not provided for the students who will attend the classes. For the students actively involved in the mock trials, one question will concern the mock trial, in order to test the understanding of the issues addressed and the mechanisms for resolving the cases submitted.
Other information
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2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
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