23899 - Law of Cultural Heritage

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will acquire knowledge of State legislation on the protection and enhancement of cultural heritage, with particular regard to the organisation of the Ministry of Culture and to the provisions laid down in the Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape (Legislative Decree No. 42 of 22 January 2004).

Course contents

The course, divided into an institutional part and a thematic part, reconstructs the origins and development of the legal protection of cultural heritage from a historical perspective. The diachronic approach begins with the ancient experience, with particular reference to Republican Rome, continues through the legislation of the pre-unification Italian States, and reaches contemporary law and the main international conventions, showing how concepts and institutions of public law have progressively evolved and converged into the current system of cultural heritage protection.
The institutional part is devoted to State legislation on the protection and enhancement of cultural heritage, with particular regard to the provisions laid down in the Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape, Legislative Decree No. 42 of 22 January 2004. The course analyses the main institutions of the current legal framework, including the notion of cultural property, the functions of protection and enhancement, conservation, access and use, the circulation of cultural property, the role of public and private actors, and the limits established by law to ensure the protection of cultural heritage.
The thematic part introduces the international and UNESCO dimension of cultural heritage protection. From this perspective, the course examines the protection of cultural heritage in contexts of armed conflict and the preventive measures of safeguarding, planning and cooperation to be adopted also in peacetime, as well as the illicit circulation and dispersion of cultural property, with particular attention to archaeological heritage, the black market in art and archaeology, the role of organised crime in illicit circuits, and issues of provenance, recovery and restitution.
Within the thematic part, selected case studies concerning the international protection of cultural heritage may also be examined, including underwater cultural heritage and heritage recognised within the UNESCO system.

These in-depth studies allow students to connect the legal foundations of the subject with practical issues relating to archaeological, artistic, cultural and landscape heritage.

 

Readings/Bibliography

ATTENDING STUDENTS
For the preparation of the examination, attending students shall refer to the notes taken during lectures, the slides, PDFs and other teaching materials made available on the Virtuale.unibo platform. These materials must be integrated with the study of the following textbook:

INSTITUTIONAL PART:
A. Roccella. 2025. Legislazione dei beni culturali. Bari: Cacucci.

THEMATIC PART:
PDF materials available on the Virtuale.unibo platform.

Attending students may agree with the course lecturer to replace parts of the textbook with an in-depth study of topics of their interest, through the preparation of a short paper. The paper will be discussed during the oral examination together with the remaining part of the programme, as indicated in the “Assessment methods” section.
WORKING STUDENTS AND STUDENT-ATHLETES
Working students and student-athletes shall refer to the teaching materials made available in the section specifically dedicated to them on the Virtuale.unibo platform and to the following textbook:

INSTITUTIONAL PART:
A. Roccella. 2025. Legislazione dei beni culturali. Bari: Cacucci.

THEMATIC PART:
PDF materials available on the Virtuale.unibo platform.

Working students and student-athletes may also agree with the course lecturer to replace parts of the textbook with an in-depth study of topics of their interest, including through the preparation of a short paper. The paper will be discussed during the oral examination together with the remaining part of the programme, as indicated in the “Assessment methods” section.
NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
Non-attending students shall prepare for the examination on the following textbook:
M. Ainis, M. Fiorillo. 2022. L’ordinamento della cultura. Manuale di legislazione dei beni culturali. Milano: Giuffrè, excluding Chapter XII, “Il paesaggio”, pp. 237-248.
INTRODUCTORY BIBLIOGRAPHY AND OPTIONAL FURTHER READING
For all categories of students, the following volume is recommended as introductory reading for those wishing to approach the subject, and as optional further reading:
F. Fasolino, ed. 2020. La tutela dei “Beni culturali” nell’esperienza giuridica romana. Milano: Wolters Kluwer, 223 pp.
All students who intend to attend the course or take the examination are advised to obtain an updated version of the Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape, incorporating the most recent legislative amendments.

Teaching methods

The course does not require prior legal knowledge. The basic notions of the subject are introduced and consolidated gradually throughout the course, in order to enable students without a legal background to acquire the essential terminology and tools needed to navigate cultural heritage legislation.

Students are nevertheless encouraged to read the introductory bibliography indicated in the “Readings/Bibliography” section and to obtain an updated version of the Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape, incorporating the most recent legislative amendments, in either printed or digital format.

The course is mainly taught through lectures, integrated with guided discussion, case analysis, and the reading and commentary of legal sources and case-law materials. Seminars or meetings with experts in the field may also be organised, with the aim of exploring specific practical aspects of the subject.

Teaching activities make use of IT and multimedia tools, including slides, online resources, digital materials and handouts progressively made available on the Virtuale.unibo platform.

Students are encouraged to participate actively in lectures through questions, contributions, case discussions and connections between the institutional part of the course and the thematic in-depth topics.

Assessment methods

ATTENDING STUDENTS
Students who have attended at least 70% of the lectures are considered attending students. Attendance will be verified by the course lecturer according to the methods indicated during the course.
The final examination consists of an oral interview on the topics indicated in the “Course contents” section and on the materials listed in the “Readings/Bibliography” section. The oral interview is aimed at assessing students’ knowledge of the topics covered during the course, their understanding of the main institutions of cultural heritage law, their ability to navigate the fundamental provisions of the Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape, and their ability to connect the institutional part of the programme with the thematic part.
Attending students may replace parts of the programme with the study of teaching materials made available by the course lecturer, as indicated in the “Teaching methods” and “Readings/Bibliography” sections. This option must be agreed upon during the course.
Parts of the programme may also be replaced by the preparation of a short paper of at least 5 pages, whose topic must be agreed in advance with the course lecturer. The paper must be submitted to the lecturer one week before the oral examination.
The paper will be reviewed by the lecturer, who may indicate any necessary integrations or corrections. Students are required to incorporate the changes indicated by the lecturer into the final version of the paper. In preparing the paper, students must carefully follow the instructions uploaded in a specific file on the Virtuale.unibo platform, in particular with regard to footnotes. The instruction file is available in the section entitled “Materials for the written examination”.
If the paper is deemed suitable by the lecturer, its content becomes an integral part of the final oral examination. Students will be examined on the content of the paper and on the other parts of the programme agreed upon with the lecturer.
With regard to the possible use of generative Artificial Intelligence tools in the preparation of the paper, only limited, declared and non-substantial use is permitted, for support activities such as summarising, linguistic reformulation, preliminary organisation of contents, or formal revision of the text. Students are not allowed to delegate to AI the substantive development of the analysis, legal interpretation, critical argumentation, or extended parts of the paper.
Students who have used generative AI tools must expressly declare this in the paper, indicating which tools were used and for which activities. Undeclared or substantial use of AI constitutes a violation of academic integrity and may result in the paper being deemed unsuitable. The oral discussion of the paper is also intended to assess students’ personal command of the contents, the sources used and the argumentative choices made.

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
For non-attending students, the final examination consists of an oral interview on the topics indicated in the “Course contents” section and on the textbook listed in the “Readings/Bibliography” section.
The oral interview is aimed at assessing students’ knowledge of the programme required for non-attending students, in accordance with the textbook indicated in the “Readings/Bibliography” section.

WORKING STUDENTS AND STUDENT-ATHLETES
Working students and student-athletes shall refer to the instructions and the texts indicated in the “Readings/Bibliography” section.
The final examination consists of an oral interview on the programme and materials provided for this category of students. In preparing for the oral examination, working students and student-athletes may also use the slides and other teaching materials made available on the Virtuale.unibo platform.
Working students and student-athletes may also submit a short paper of at least 5 pages, after agreeing on the topic in advance with the course lecturer by e-mail, Teams or during office hours. The paper must be sent to the lecturer by e-mail one week before the oral examination.
The paper will be reviewed by the lecturer, who may indicate any necessary integrations or corrections. Students are required to incorporate the changes indicated by the lecturer into the final version of the paper. In preparing the paper, students must carefully follow the instructions uploaded in a specific file on the Virtuale.unibo platform, in particular with regard to footnotes. The instruction file is available in the section entitled “Materials for the written examination”.
If the paper is deemed suitable by the lecturer, its content becomes an integral part of the final oral examination. Students will be examined on the content of the paper and on the other parts of the programme agreed upon with the lecturer.
The possible use of generative Artificial Intelligence tools in the preparation of the paper is permitted only in a limited, declared and non-substantial form, for support activities such as summarising, linguistic reformulation, preliminary organisation of contents, or formal revision of the text. Students are not allowed to delegate to AI the substantive development of the analysis, legal interpretation, critical argumentation, or extended parts of the paper. Any use of AI must be declared in the paper, indicating the tools used and the activities for which they were employed. Undeclared or substantial use of AI constitutes a violation of academic integrity and may result in the paper being deemed unuitable.

STUDENTS WITH SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES OR DISABILITIES
For students with specific learning disabilities or temporary or permanent disabilities, please refer to the information provided in the “Teaching tools” section.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Assessment takes into account knowledge of the topics included in the programme and of the examination materials, the ability to navigate cultural heritage legislation, understanding of the main institutions of the subject, correct use of legal terminology, and the ability to connect the institutional and thematic parts of the course.
For attending students, working students and student-athletes, assessment also takes into account the ability to apply the knowledge acquired to the analysis of the issues addressed during the course or in the materials agreed upon with the lecturer, as well as, where applicable, the ability to critically discuss the contents of the paper and connect them to the rest of the examination programme.
For non-attending students, assessment takes into account knowledge of the textbook indicated in the “Readings/Bibliography” section, the ability to understand its main thematic areas, and the ability to present the constitutional, institutional and regulatory aspects of cultural heritage law in an orderly and informed manner.

Grades are awarded according to the following criteria:
• insufficient grade: gaps or fragmentary knowledge of the fundamental topics; difficulty in navigating sources, institutions and main issues; inappropriate use of legal terminology; inability to develop a coherent argument on the topics included in the programme and, where applicable, on the paper;
• sufficient grade: essential knowledge of the main topics; generally correct presentation, although with some inaccuracies; basic understanding of the sources and institutions covered; limited autonomy in analysis and in making connections between the topics of the course and, where applicable, between the paper and the examination programme (18-22);
• good grade: adequate and fairly well-structured knowledge of the topics; clear and correct presentation; ability to identify the main connections between legislation, protection, enhancement, circulation of cultural property and practical issues; generally appropriate use of legal terminology, although with some limitations in critical analysis (23-27);
• very good or excellent grade: complete and coherent knowledge of the topics; full command of legal terminology; ability to critically connect the institutional and thematic parts of the programme or, for non-attending students, the different thematic areas of the examination textbook; autonomy in analysing issues relating to the protection, enhancement, circulation and governance of cultural heritage; ability to argue in a precise, coherent and informed manner, also with reference to the paper, where applicable (28-30 with honours).

Teaching tools

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

Students with a specific learning profile or a temporary or permanent disability may contact the Student Disability and Specific Learning Disabilities Office as soon as possible: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students. The Office helps identify any accommodations they may need.

To ensure that any adjustments are implemented in time, students should submit their requests to the course instructor at least 15 days before the exam date. The instructor assesses the requests in light of the learning objectives and confirms the appropriate arrangements.

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

Office hours

See the website of Federica Botti