91364 - Foundations Of Public Comparative Law

Learning outcomes

"At the end of the course unit, students: - know the basic aspects of contemporary constitutionalism in Western democracies, countries in transition to democracy and beyond; - may evaluate the foundations of individual legal systems: the assumptions, choices and values that have formed them; - acquired a critical understanding of the strengths and limits of constitutional law in regulating social and political processes. "

Course contents

THIS COURSE IS AVAILABLE TO LEGS STUDENTS ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE INSERTED IN THE LEARNING AGREEMENT BY ERASMUS AND OTHER EXCHANGE STUDENTS. THE LATTER ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND MY COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONALISM COURSE.

 

Module 1 (Mancini)

1) What is a Constitution?

2) Why Comparative Constitutional Law?

3)Constitutional Models

7) Protecting Fundamental Rights: Equality, Minority and Group Rights

8) Freedom of Expression

9) Freedom of Religion and Belief

Module 2 (Biagi):

4) Judicial Enforcement of the Constitution and Models of Constitutional Adjudication

5) Horizontal Separation of Powers: Presidentialism and Parliamentarism

6) Federalism Vertical Separation of powers

 Course contents do not vary for Erasmus/Exchange students.

Readings/Bibliography

THIS COURSE IS AVAILABLE TO LEGS STUDENTS ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE INSERTED IN THE LEARNING AGREEMENT BY ERASMUS AND OTHER EXCHANGE STUDENTS. THE LATTER ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND MY COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONALISM COURSE.

 

Dorsen, Rosenfeld, Sajo, Baer and Mancini, Comparative Constitutional Law. Cases and Materials, Third Edition, West, 2016 (relevant pages will be uploaded on Virtuale)

Teaching methods

THIS COURSE IS AVAILABLE TO LEGS STUDENTS ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE INSERTED IN THE LEARNING AGREEMENT BY ERASMUS AND OTHER EXCHANGE STUDENTS. THE LATTER ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND MY COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONALISM COURSE.

 

Course requirements include regular class attendance, active participation in class discussion

Assessment methods

 

Assessment methods do not vary for Erasmus/Exchange students

Unless otherwise indicated, the exam will be administered in WRITTEN form. On the day of the scheduled exam session, students will be required to respond – in person, using the computers in the university’s IT laboratories – to a series of open-ended questions covering different parts of the course syllabus. The exam will last 75 minutes.

The use of the internet or artificial intelligence tools (e.g., ChatGPT) during the examination is strictly prohibited. Any violation of this rule will result in the invalidation of the exam and a formal report to the University’s Disciplinary Committee.

Students who regularly attend lectures (at least 70% class attendance) will have the opportunity to take the exam – again in written form – during an early session (pre-appello) to be held in December (the exact date will be announced at the beginning of the course). This early exam session will focus on the topics covered during lectures.

The mark awarded in the written exam is final and does not require the completion of an oral examination. Students who fail the exam or choose not to accept the mark obtained must retake the written examination in a subsequent session.

More detailed instructions regarding the exam procedures – both for attending and non-attending students – will be made available on Virtuale in a document titled “Exam Instructions.”

For illustrative purposes only, the following criteria will guide the awarding of marks:

- 18–19: limited preparation on a small number of topics covered in the course; limited analytical ability; generally correct use of language.

- 20–24: preparation on a limited number of topics; independent analytical ability only on purely procedural matters; correct use of language.

- 25–29: broad preparation across a wide range of course topics; ability to make independent and critical analyses; good command of subject-specific terminology.

- 30–30 with honours (lode): comprehensive knowledge of course content; strong critical and analytical skills, including cross-topic connections; excellent command of technical terminology, as well as strong argumentation and self-reflective skills.

Marks will be published on Virtuale within a few days of the exam. Students who do not wish to have their mark registered must send an email to me, copying in Dr Lidia Bonifati (lidia.bonifati2@unibo.it) and Dr Alessandro Martinuzzi (a.martinuzzi@unibo.it [mailto:a.martinuzzi@unibo.it] ).

Students with DSA or with temporary or permanent disabilities should contact the University’s dedicated support office in advance: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it . This office will liaise directly with the students concerned to propose any appropriate accommodations, which must be submitted for the lecturer’s approval at least 15 days in advance. The appropriateness of such adaptations will be evaluated in relation to the course’s learning objectives.

 

Teaching tools

THIS COURSE IS AVAILABLE TO LEGS STUDENTS ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE INSERTED IN THE LEARNING AGREEMENT BY ERASMUS AND OTHER EXCHANGE STUDENTS. THE LATTER ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND MY COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONALISM COURSE.

 

Materials will be available online

Office hours

See the website of Susanna Mancini

See the website of Francesco Biagi