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INTRODUCTION TO ITALIAN CRIMINAL LAW

Academic year and teacher
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Versione italiana
Academic year
2015/2016
Teacher
ADRIANO MARTUFI
Credits
6
Didactic period
Secondo Semestre
SSD
IUS/17

Training objectives

The course aims the providing the students with the following fundamentals:
i) a clear knowledge of main sources and principles of Italian criminal law;
ii) a strong awareness of the main theoretical and practical issues of Italian criminal law debate;
iii) an overview of the most significant evolutions of Italian criminal justice system, including those triggered by the influence of European law on national criminal provisions


Abilities:

At the conclusion of the course students will acquire a number of useful skills, such as:
i) an augmented attitude to legal reasoning;
ii) a clearer understanding of legal provisions and Courts' judgments;
iii) an increased ability to compare criminal justice systems by means of an in-depth analysis of legal texts and Courts' decisions.
Prerequisites
The course is preferably addressed to students having acquired fundamentals of substantive criminal law and criminal procedure in their Countries of origin, but it may well be addressed also to those who have not yet taken this subject in their home institutions.

Prerequisites

The course is preferably addressed to students having acquired fundamentals of substantive criminal law and criminal procedure in their Countries of origin, but it may well be addressed also to those who have not yet taken this subject in their home institutions.

Course programme

The course is entirely taught in English and aims to provide foreign students with a basic knowledge of Italian criminal system.
The first part of the course focuses on the following topics: (I) fundamental background information about the criminal justice system in Italy; (II) sources of Italian criminal law; (III) fundamental constitutional principles: the principle of legality (nullum crimen sine lege); the prohibition of retroactive criminal law; the principle of individual guilty mind (nullum crimen sine culpa); the principle of proportionality: the purpose of criminal punishment under the Constitution.
The second part of the course concentrates on the grounds for criminal liability: (I) physical element (actus reus); (II) mental element (mens rea); (III) justification; (IV) legal excuse; (V) chargeability and exclusions of criminal responsibility; (VI) criminal attempt; (VII) participation in criminal offences.
The third part addresses the sanctioning system and the alternatives to detention.
The fourth part will provide an outline of Italian criminal procedure.

Didactic methods

Classes and workshop seminars. Cases and materials for the seminars will be provided before the classes.

Learning assessment procedures

The exam consists of a written test.

Reference texts

For students attending the course, the exam will focus on the issues and materials discussed in class. For students who could not attend the course (or a part thereof), the following text is mandatory reading: A. Di Amato, Criminal law in Italy, (Cedam – WoltersKluwer), 2015, ISBN-13: 978-9041138323.