Learning objectives
The course aims at providing an in-depth knowledge of the means through which individuals can enforce the rights conferred on them by EU law, both judicial and non-judicial. More generally, the course will offer instruments and notions that are essential in order to understand the ever growing and complex influence of EU law on national law and the everyday life of individuals within the European Union.
Prerequisites
Students shall previously pass the exam of European Union Law (Prof. A. Barani).
Course unit content
The course aims at providing an in-depth knowledge of the means through which individuals can enforce the rights conferred on them by EU law, with a special focus on some areas of action of the European Union. The first part of the course will be devoted to mapping the sources of EU law from which individuals derive rights. Attention will be paid to the scope ratione personae of such rights, many of which are not conferred exclusively on EU citizens. The different means for enforcing these rights, both judicial and non-judicial (such as the recourse to the European Ombudsman), will then be addressed. The question of the requirements for locus standi of individuals and collective entities before the courts of the European Union will be analysed in depth. The first part of the course will end up with a discussion on the relationships between the partly overlapping systems of rights protection of the European Union, the Member States and the European Convention on Human Rights. The second part of the course will be dedicated to examining the protection of rights conferred by EU law in some specific areas of action of the European Union. Attention will be paid to issues such as: the new instrument of the legislative initiative of EU citizens, firstly introduced by the Lisbon Treaty; the new directive on consular protection (2015/637/EU); the possibility to invoke the status of EU citizen in situations that may appear to be purely internal (ECJ judgments Chen, Rottman, and Zambrano; pending case Delvigne, on the deprivation of voting rights as an ancillary criminal sanction). The impact on individuals’ rights of the austerity measures adopted by some Eurozone Member States, and the existence of effective means of protection, will also be discussed. Further issues may be identified based on the interest and suggestions of the participants.
Full programme
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Bibliography
Students who will actively attend the course: slides, case-studies, textbook chapters and legal materials analysed.
Students who will not attend the course: a specific programme may be assigned by the professor.
Teaching methods
Traditional academic teaching will be complemented by the discussion of case studies and the analysis of the legal sources addressed.
Assessment methods and criteria
Written exam (combination of multiple choices questions and open questions).
Other information
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