23899 - Law of Cultural Heritage

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will have acquired a solid understanding of Italian state legislation on the protection and valorisation of cultural heritage, with particular focus on the organisation of the Ministry of Culture and on the provisions of the Cultural Heritage and Landscape Code (Legislative Decree No. 42 of 22 January 2004).

Course contents

The course builds on the knowledge acquired during the bachelor’s programme, refining it with a practical focus on the legislative framework that governs Italy’s cultural heritage and on the competences required in the open competitions for officer posts at the Ministry of Culture (MiC). A short alignment phase in the first two classes equips every participant with a shared vocabulary and conceptual groundwork, regardless of any previous study of cultural-heritage law.

Teaching takes place through lectures, guided exercises and classroom simulations. These are complemented by contributions from public- and private-sector professionals, so that the learning experience remains strongly practice-oriented and immediately relevant both to professional work and to public-sector selection procedures.

(I) National administrative framework

The opening part recalls the constitutional principles of legality, impartiality and sound administration, together with the criteria of economy, transparency and proportionality that steer Italian public action. Against this backdrop the course examines the hierarchy of legal sources—statutes, regulations, general administrative acts and guidelines—and analyses the administrative procedure laid down by Law 241/1990: initiation, participation, access to records, silence-as-consent and self-review, all illustrated through drafting exercises on sample decisions.

A selective reading of the Cultural Heritage and Landscape Code (Legislative Decree 42/2004) follows. Attention is paid to its general principles, the instruments of protection, the declaration of cultural interest, prior authorisations, domestic and international circulation, export and intra-EU restitution, as well as to the main mechanisms for public enjoyment and enhancement. In parallel, the course traces the evolution of the Ministry of Culture—directorates-general, regional secretariats, superintendencies—and its relations with regions and local authorities.

Two further meetings are devoted to the conference of services; the theoretical outline is followed by an in-class simulation in which students, acting as Superintendency, Municipality and project proponent, negotiate and issue the authorisation for an enhancement project. Part I ends with a mock MiC multiple-choice test that measures the regulatory mastery attained and contributes to the mark awarded in the final oral examination.

(II) Advanced case-law and international dimension

The second part places the legal instruments studied in context by examining recent Italian judgments—such as the “Man with the Hat” ruling on acquisitive prescription and the “Alfredo” case concerning an indirect constraint on a historic restaurant—and then turns to the international arena, with special attention to intangible cultural heritage. It reviews the UNESCO 2003 Convention, the UNESCO 1970 Convention on illicit trafficking, the UNIDROIT soft-law instruments and the EU directives on restitution, together with the Council of Europe conventions of Granada, Faro and Nicosia.

Through case studies the course discusses archeomafias, deliberate destruction of heritage, recovery of illicit proceeds, international task forces and judicial co-operation, with reference to the Palermo Convention on transnational organised crime. It also introduces the notions of urbicide and cultural genocide in the light of the ICC cases Al-Mahdi and Al-Hassan, and considers the most recent controversies linked to cancel culture and the removal of historical symbols.

The learning pathway thus provides students with advanced legal tools for the governance of cultural heritage—tools that can be applied both in professional practice and in MiC competition procedures.

Readings/Bibliography

Attending students and working/athlete students
For the final examination these students may rely on:
• the notes taken during lectures;
• the lecture slides;
• any supplementary files (PDF, Kindle format) uploaded to the course page on virtuale.unibo.it.

To complement the above materials the following textbook is strongly recommended:
• C. BARBATI, M. CAMMELLI, L. CASINI, et al. (2025), Diritto del patrimonio culturale, Il Mulino, Bologna.

Non-attending students
Students who do not attend classes must prepare the examination on the same textbook:
• C. BARBATI, M. CAMMELLI, L. CASINI, et al. (2025), Diritto del patrimonio culturale, Il Mulino, Bologna.


Preparatory reading
Students who—whether they attend the course or not—did not pass a Cultural-Heritage Law exam during their Bachelor’s degree are strongly advised to read in advance:
• A. ROCCELLA (2025), Legislazione dei beni culturali, Cacucci, Bari.

Teaching methods

Lectures are always accompanied by slide presentations to facilitate learning and to reinforce key concepts as they are introduced. Attendance is not compulsory, yet students who are present are encouraged to engage actively in class through discussion and debate on the practical cases explored during each session.

During the course a mock examination modelled on the Ministry of Culture recruitment tests is organised. The exercise consists of multiple-choice questionnaires in cultural-heritage law identical in format to those used in the official competition.

The course also includes practical simulations and in-depth sessions featuring contributions from professionals working in the cultural sector.

Assessment methods

Attending students

Students who attend at least 70 % of the classes (i.e. 11 out of 15 two-hour sessions) are classified as attending and may follow a simplified assessment path.

During the course they sit an intermediate test that reproduces the multiple-choice quiz used in recent MiC competitions: 30 questions to be completed within a two-hour lecture slot. One point is awarded for each correct answer; omitted or incorrect answers score zero. The pass threshold is 18/30 (18 correct responses).

Score ≥ 18/30 – at the final oral examination the student is required to discuss only Part II of the syllabus (Advanced case-law and international dimension), prepared on the basis of lecture notes and the material uploaded to Virtuale.

Score < 18/30 – the student must cover the full syllabus (Parts I + II) at the oral exam, using the resources made available on-line. The same applies to an attending student who chooses not to sit the intermediate test.

The final assessment for attending students therefore consists of an oral interview focused on the topics listed under “Programme/Contents”, modulated according to the result of the quiz described above.

 

Working or athlete students

Students recognised as working professionals or elite athletes agree the assessment format with the course instructor (e-mail, Teams, office hours). Two alternatives are available:

Option A – Case-law paper + reduced oral

An 8-page written paper on an international case (e.g. restitution of looted artefacts, safeguarding intangible heritage) is submitted by e-mail one week before the examination date. If the paper is approved, it becomes part of the oral discussion together with Part I of the syllabus, which must be prepared with the materials posted on Virtuale.

Option B – Comprehensive oral

The student may waive the written paper and study all the material on Virtuale (Parts I + II), taking an oral examination on the complete syllabus.

In both options, working/athlete students base their preparation exclusively on the teaching resources available on Virtuale (slides, templates of administrative acts, case-law files, editorial guidelines).

 

Non-attending students

Students who do not attend classes and do not fall within the working/athlete category prepare the examination on the textbooks and readings indicated under “Texts/Bibliography”.

 

Students with DSA/BES

Candidates with specific learning disorders or other special educational needs follow the procedures outlined in the section “Teaching-support tools”.

 

General grading criteria

For attending and working/athlete students

Fail – serious gaps in basic knowledge; inability to interpret sources or solve problems (including an inadequate written paper, where applicable).

Pass (18-22/30) – minimal but acceptable knowledge; generally correct interpretation with inaccuracies and limited autonomy.

Good (23-27/30) – intermediate knowledge; correct interpretation, though not always precise or independent; limited analytical depth; chiefly mnemonic learning.

Excellent (28-30 with honours) – organic, critically argued understanding of the topics discussed in class; fluent use of specialised legal language.

For non-attending students

Fail – conceptual gaps, insufficient terminology, inability to navigate the prescribed bibliography.

Pass (18-22/30) – essential understanding of the readings; interpretation mostly correct but imprecise or insufficiently autonomous.

Good (23-27/30) – largely mnemonic knowledge; limited synthesis and analysis; language correct though occasionally inappropriate.

Excellent (27-30 with honours) – coherent and comprehensive grasp of the bibliographic material, critical evaluation skills and accurate, discipline-specific language use.

Teaching tools

Additional teaching material and lecture presentations will be available on the online course web page.

Students with a specific learning profile or a temporary or permanent disability, may get in touch with the Student Disability and DSA Office as soon as possible: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students . They will help identify any accommodations they may need.

To ensure any adjustments can be implemented in time, please submit your requests at least 15 days before the exam date to the course instructor. The instructor will assess the requests in light of the learning objectives and confirm the appropriate arrangements.

Students are warmly encouraged to contact the course instructor as early as possible—ideally at the start of the term—to co-design effective strategies for engaging with class activities and course materials.

 

Office hours

See the website of Federica Botti