00534 - Principles of Public Law (M-Z)

Learning outcomes

Objective of the course

The objective of the course is to provide students with the knowledge of the basic rules of the Italian institutional system, including the living aspects and the most recent developments, also from a political and constitutional standpoint.

So the course aims to provide students with

1.the capacity and the means to analyze and understand the organization of the State from the sources of  law to Constitutional jurisdiction;

2.the capacity to deal with the principles of the constitutional system;

3.the capacity to understand the meaning of the institutional changes and their consequences.

 

Knowledge and skills expected

Knowledge that should be achieved in this course is about the regulation of Italian constitutional system, focusing especially on the sources of law and the form of State and government, the evolution of rights and Constitutional case law as the center of the system.

Course contents

 

Program/contents

 

The content of the program:

-          Introduction to law

-          What law is and what it is for

-          Judicial systems and legal framework

-          The State and its components: people, territory, government

-          Forms of State and historical evolution

-          Contemporary states

-          Forms of government: parliamentary, presidential, directorial

-          Beyond the State: supranational and international systems.

-          The sources of law

-          The concept of law source

-          Law sources system

-          Features of laws: invalidity, cancellation, abrogation

-          Production and cognizance sources, source-rule relationship

-          Resolution of antinomy between two sources: chronological, hierarchical and competence criteria. Interpretation.

 

- The Constitutional source: the concept of Constitution and the Italian Constitution

-  Ordinary laws from Parliament

-  Decree law and Legislative decree

-  Abrogative referendum as a source of law

-  The new arrangement of regional Sources

-  The problem of internal Regulations of constitutional authorities

 

-  Secondary sources

-  Regulation of the Government

-  Local secondary Sources

 

-  Factual Sources

 

-          International and EC Sources

 

-   Rights and freedoms:

-   Fundamental rights in the Italian Constitution

-   Guarantees of rights

-   The principle of equality and other fundamental principles

-   Individual freedoms

-   Collective freedoms

-   Social rights

-   Economic freedoms

-   Constitutional duties

-   Rights in an European perspective

 

-          Monographic part about rights: equality

 

-           The Parliament

-          Members and organs of the Chambers

-          Legislative functions: ordinary, peripheral, mixed

-          The Parliament and European laws

 

-          The instruments of direct democracy

-          Abrogative referendum

-          Petition

-          Popular law initiative

 

-          The Government and the Administration

-          The formation of Government

-          Confidence and no confidence, government crisis

-          Individual no confidence

 

-          The President of the Republic and its powers and acts

-          The principles of the Public Administration

-          The local system

-          Judicial power

-          Constitutional Justice         

Readings/Bibliography

Bibliography

GROPPI T. - SIMONCINI A., Introduzione allo studio del Diritto Pubblico e delle sue fonti, Torino, Giappichelli, ult. ed. 

F. Rescigno (a cura di), Percorsi di eguaglianza, Giappichelli editore, in corso di pubblicazione

The study of the subjects needs a constant view to the Constitution: students can consult the text in the manual, but they are supposed to have ALWAYS a copy of the Constitution during lessons.

For non-attending students:

GROPPI T. - SIMONCINI A., Introduzione allo studio del Diritto Pubblico e delle sue fonti, Torino, Giappichelli, ult. ed. 

F. Rescigno (a cura di), Percorsi di eguaglianza, Giappichelli editore, in corso di pubblicazione

RESCIGNO F., "Ite missa est". Laicità paradigma di eguaglianza,  Napoli, 2015.

 

 

Teaching methods

Teaching methods

The course will be divided into two parts. The first part will be dedicated to a general introduction about the fundamentals of Public Law, especially the Constitutional principles and the sources of law (national sources, regional sources and the sources from the European Union). Then it will be focused on the form of State and the form of government as  defined in the Constitution; the praxis and the evolution will be taken into consideration. Another fundamental part of the program is about rights and freedoms (especially the principle of equality without religious discrimination will be deeply analyzed). The study of these aspects is related to the judiciary system and constitutional justice, that represents an instrument of protection of the whole constitutional organization. 

The program will be dealt with entirely during the course and will be completed by Seminars about specific topics.

Assessment methods

Assessment and examination

 The examination for attending students will consist in mid-term written tests and an end-of-term oral exam.

 The validity of the written tests will be one academic year (from October to September).

 The participation in the activities and Seminars will be taken into consideration in the final evaluation.

 The exam for other students (non-attending students) will consist in a written test containing two questions (two subjects to be discussed) and in an oral exam. The  result of the written examination will be evaluated in order to admit the student to the oral part of the exam and to decide the final mark. The two exams will be on the same day in the same place and the enrollment for the first examination includes both of them.

Teaching tools

During the classes the teacher will use:

overhead projector;

Power point.

Office hours

See the website of Francesca Rescigno