96210 - L'UTILIZZO DELLE LINGUE NEL FUNZIONAMENTO DELL'UNIONE EUROPEA

Learning outcomes

The aim of the seminar is let the students acquire the method used by the Court, the Advocate General and the doctrine for the interpretation of Community acts, irrespective of the Court of Justice’s ruling on them.

Course contents

One of the founding principles of the European Union is multilingualism. Therefore, there are 24 official languages for it and the acts of its institutions, bodies and organs, although drafted in one of them, are published and authentic in all these languages. The aim of this seminar is to illustrate how the Court of Justice, responsible for the interpretation and the final application of each of these acts, operates to coordinate their different linguistic texts. The method by which the Court does this will be underlined so that the students can learn it and interpret a community act even before the Court gives its ruling on its application. As an exception to this, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union gives to every citizen of a Member State, who at the same time is a citizen of the Union, the right to contact a Community institution or body in one of those languages and to receive a reply in the same language.

Readings/Bibliography

During the seminar bibliographical references will be provided.

Teaching methods

The seminar will consist of four lectures of two hours each. The starting point will be a reference to community acts in order to show how the Court of Justice has coordinated their different language versions, taking into account (a) the debate between the institutions and the other parties which takes place before the Court, (b) the conclusions of the Advocate General delivered in the most important cases and (c) the contributions given by the doctrine to understand them. The students will then be instructed to apply the method used by the Court and the Advocate General for the interpretation of acts on which they have not yet adopted a position.

Assessment methods

The assessment of the learning will take place through an oral interview aimed at evaluating the knowledge acquired by the students during the seminar, paying attention to their acquisition of the way in which the interpretative criteria constituted by the teleological and systematic interpretation of the Community legal norms are used in the matter, as well as to their learning of the contributions coming from the doctrinal interventions made to that regard.

Teaching tools

Lectures will be supported by the presentation of slides throgh the use of the projector and the PC.

Office hours

See the website of Pieralberto Mengozzi