CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- PAOLO VERONESI
- Credits
- 12
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- IUS/08
Training objectives
- The course aims to introduce the basic concepts of constitutional law and the full knowledge of its traditional partitions (sources of law, constitutional organization of the state, constitutional justice, guaranties of the rights of freedom).
Main knowledge acquired. The course aims to ensure that students acquire the following skills: knowledge of the concept and the structure of the rule of law; concept of State; in depth knowledge of the Italian sources of law and its operating system also in relations with the EU legal system; understanding the fundamental dynamics of the Italian form of government, in the light of the functions of the constitutional bodies and the electoral system; in depth knowledge of the Italian judicial review system, with particular reference to the process of constitutional adjudication; understanding of substantive law and of mechanism of protection of fundamental freedoms.
Main skills acquired. Students will be able to develop a coherent understanding and appropriate use of technical and legal terminology dealing with constitutional rights; the capacity for critical analysis on the activity of various constitutional bodies; the adoption of legal and constitutional method as a parameter to verify the legitimacy of the activities and the sources; the analysis of legal and constitutional issues; the ability to use the constitutional sources in view of the interpretation and application of the legal sources subordinated to the Constitution; basic knowledge of submission procedures and requirements to be followed in order to raise a question of constitutional legitimacy. Prerequisites
- A Good knowledge of the Italian language and its grammar is required. It is also necessary to have adequate logical skills and an Aptitude to reasoning and to critical thinking. It is also decisive to have the possesion of skills in the interpretation of texts. It is also unavoidable to have the habit of reading the daily press. Sufficient knowledge of the contemporary italian history.
Course programme
- The rule of law. The legal system. The State. Forms of State and forms of government. The concepts of the different types of Constitutions (10 hours).
The system of sources: the notion of "source of law". Relationships between sources. The interpretation. The sources of the Italian set of rules. (20 hours)
The constitutional organization: the Parliament. The Government. The President of the Republic. The electoral system. The corrections to the parliamentary form of government. (20 hours)
The Constitutional justice: The judicial review. The jurisdictional disputes between branches of government. The jurisdictional disputes between state and regions. The control on the admissibility of the referendum. The constitutional criminal justice (20 hours).
Rights of freedom: only the legal mechanisms to guarantee the rights of freedom (10 hours)
Part of the course will be dedicated to enhance the searching methods on the jurisprudential and normative sources databases. Didactic methods
- As part of the lessons the different institutions of constitutional law will be fully illustrated. The focus will be also on some of the key problems of the constitutional topic.
We will be also studying constantly the Constitution and other legal sources relevant to the constitutional matter.
We will, in conclusion, be reading some passages of the constitutional judgments.
Due to the emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, lectures may be conducted remotely if they cannot be organised in person. In this case, lessons will be streamed and recorded. The platforms used will be Google Meet (https://meet.google.com/xfm-htxu-sza) and EIDUCO. For the latter, the student's login is: https//ufe.eiduco.com, while the Course Registration Code is XUQ82NVY.
WARNING. The Eiduco platform, in this beginning of the academic year, has shown some application problems. Therefore, lessons nos. 7 and 8 have been skipped. We are trying to clone last year's lessons, which substantially follow the topics covered in the above lessons. In any case, on Google Classroom (access code: yc4kd7d) you can find all the slides related to the first block of lessons (including nn. 7 and 8). Learning assessment procedures
- The exam consists of an oral exam for around three questions about constitutional organization, sources of law and constitutional court. As part of the final test on the examination program, institutional knowledge and in-depth understanding and criticism of the institutions will be evaluated. For the exam preparation it is essential to start from the analysis of the sources of law, all of which have to be accompanied by a careful study of the textbook. During the course, some sections of the subject matter will also be illustrated throughout the use of the numerous Constitutional Court decisions on relevant cases.The sentences to be studied are published on the teaching webpage.
Therefore, in summary, the examination will focus on the following study materials: 1. the main sources of constitutional and public law; 2. the basic manual, studied in its totality; 3. the decisions of the Constitutional Court indicated by the Professor.
The final grade results from the average of the grades deriving from every single answer given by the student to the three questions. This rule does not apply if the student isn't in the condition of sustaining the exam. Reference texts
- It is absolutely necessary to purchase an updated collection of one of this texts on public law. For example: M. BASSANI - V. ITALY - G. LOOT - M. TOWER - G. RUGGERI - ZUCCHETTI A. (a cura di), Leggi fondamentali del diritto pubblico e costituzionale, Giuffre, Milano, latest edition, or P. COSTANZO, Testi normativi per lo studio del diritto costituzionale italiano ed europeo, Giappichelli, Torino, latest edition. Even other collections work just fine, it is the student’s interest on having the necessary attention for being those where they will study the latest versions possible. A continuous consultation of such codes is also needed during class.
It is also Essential the study of the basic manual: R. BIN - G. PITRUZZELLA, Diritto costituzionale, Giappichelli, Turin, latest edition. The manual has to be studied in its totality. The last chapter only the parr. 1 and 3.3.
During the course, some parts of the topic will be illustrated throughout the use of Constitutional Court decisions: these decisions are available on the site www.giurcost.org or on the site www.cortecostituzionale.it. The essential list of these decisions, together with extracts from the text and the reasons for them, can be found on the Teacher's web page (under "Teaching Materials").
The study of such constitutional decisions is highly recommended for the preparation of the exam.
