The course aims to provide students with the main tools to understand Constitutional justice and the constitutional proceedings, analyzing both procedures and case law, referring in particular to the different ways to activate the Constitutional Court in the judicial review of legislation and to the Court’s other functions. 

The semester-long course will be organized in two parts:

First part – general
The general part aims to provide students the main skills and ability to fully understand the matter of Costitutional justice. Here the main topics:

• History and definition of Constitutional justice
• Organization and structure of the Italian Constitutional court
• General features and phases of constitutional proceedings.
• The judicial review of legislation – “procedimento in via incidentale”: objects, parts, rules, categories of standards and decisions.
• The judicial review of legislation: - “procedimento in via principale”: objects, parts, rules, categories of standards and decisions.
• The conflicts of powers: a) conflicts between State powers; b) conflicts between State and Regions and between Regions.
• Further Courts’ attributions: the decisions on referendum 
• Further Courts’ attributions: the decisions on presidential crimes

Second part – special
Lecturer will present, explain, analyze and comment the main decisions of the Constitutional court, with reference both to substantive issues (for example fundamental rights, budgetary issues, State-Regions issues) and procedural aspects (the different ways to activate the Court and the effects of Court’s decisions). The Special part aims to enable students to focus on specific topic and eventually draft a paper concerning their own individual in-depth analysis. Therefore, the second part will be characterized also for a more active involvement of attending students in lectures
 

Constitutional law.

The learning achievements of the course are the following:

A) Knowledge and understanding: Students must demonstrate to know the fundamental notions of Constitutional justice, from the judicial review of legislation to the other functions of the Constitutional courts. Such notions will be acquired through handbooks and bibliography suggested by the lecturer and thanks to the special focus on single topics.

B) Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will show the ability to apply their acquired knowledge and competence in the search for possible solutions to problems related to Constitutional justice topics, through the analysis of Constitutional court’s decisions and consulting databases.

C) Making judgements: Students must exhibit the ability to combine acquired knowledge interpreting case law and elaborating the outcomes of jurisprudential research, also proposing possible solutions.

D) Communication skills: Students are requested to demonstrate they know how to communicate and argue their own opinions in debates, after having acquired information and notions and discussing with the lecturer and other students in class. 

E) Learning skills: Students are requested to show they have developed appropriate learning abilities in order to be able to continue their study in a quite autonomous way, also in jurisprudential and normative research.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Special meetings will be organized in order to support students also in singling out their own individual in-depth analysis on case law. Teaching material made available by the lecturer can be found inside the Moodle platform blended.uniurb.it

Professor may suggest more material during class. For case law, the following web sites are suggested: www.cortecostituzionale.it; www.giurcost.org

Teaching

General part: lectures
Special part: lectures, seminars, conferences held also by other Foreign and Italian scholars and experts.
Exercises will be held on case law.

Attendance

Attendance is not mandatory.

Course books

Attending students
 
General part
 
The study of the following texts is mandatory (only referring to the highlighted chapters):
 
1) A. BARBERA - C. FUSARO, Corso di diritto costituzionale, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2014, cap. XVII “La giustizia costituzionale”;
 
2) L. CALIFANO - M. RUBECHI, Guida ragionata alla Costituzione italiana, Maggioli, Rimini, 2013:
- Itinerario di comprensione n. 11 - Titolo VI, Garanzie costituzionali;
- Focus di comparazione n. 1 – Diritti e tutela multilivello;
- Focus di comparazione n. 5 - Modelli di giustizia costituzionale.
 
3) R. ROMBOLI – E. ROSSI, Giudizio di legittimità costituzionale delle leggi, in Enciclopedia del diritto, Giuffrè, (agg. V, 2001): parts: 2-15; 19-32; 37.
 

Special part
Lecturer will present, explain, analyze and comment the main decisions of the Constitutional court, with reference both to substantive issues (for example fundamental rights, budgetary issues, State-Regions issues) and procedural aspects (the different ways to activate the Court and the effects of Court’s decisions). For case law, the following web sites are suggested:
www.cortecostituzionale.it
www.giurcost.org
 

Assessment

At the end of the course, to verify accomplishment, students will take an oral exam. Professor has chosen such method of assessment, considering it more appropriate to get a complete overview of students’ accomplishment in Constitutional justice. Oral exam aims to verify students’ communicative and expressive skills, as well as their successful acquisition of correct legal lexicon, especially referring to procedural aspects of Judicial review of legislation and other Constitutional courts’ procedures and activities. Beside the oral exam, only attending students will draft a paper concerning their own individual in-depth analysis formerly agreed and formulated with the professor in the special part of the course. The paper will concur in some way to final grade. Drafting the paper, students will demonstrate their research skills and their abilities in synthesizing research’s outcomes, applying an appropriate legal lexicon in Constitutional justice and showing competence in critical analysis. 

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Teaching material made available by the lecturer can be found, together with other supporting activities, inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it  

For case law, the following web sites are suggested: www.cortecostituzionale.it; www.giurcost.org

For non attending students: for any further information or questions, please feel free to contact any time the lecturer through her institutional email address valentina.fiorillo@uniurb.it or during the above mentioned office hours.

Attendance

Attendance is not mandatory.

Course books

Non-attending students

General part: attending students’ programme (please, see above)
 

For the special part, non-attending students have to contact the lecturer right after the beginning of lessons. Contact the lecturere through her institutional email address (valentina.fiorillo@uniurb.it) or during the above mentioned office hours. 

Assessment

At the end of the course, to verify accomplishment, non-attending students will take an oral exam. Professor has chosen such method of assessment, considering that it is more appropriate to get a complete overview of students’ accomplishment in Constitutional justice. Oral exam aims to verify students’ communicative and expressive skills, as well as their successful acquisition of correct legal lexicon. 

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Students can request to take final exam in English, French or Spanish. Please, feel free to contact the professor for this request. 
In Law Department, Olympus Observatory is active in order to monitor Labour legislation and case law. This observatory performs various activities, in particular:

- Managing a website with legislative, jurisprudential data base or contractual occupational safety;

- insights and articles, specialized exhibitions and thematic focus;

- Managing a scientific magazine online - "I Working Papers di Olympus", that will evolve in "Diritto della sicurezza sul lavoro" (DSL) – regarding safety in the workplace, with ISSN, with an international Scientific Committee and peer review process for identification of the essays to be published;

- Conference events and seminars even with international profile. Olympus Observatory has an internet web site with open access and it allows all the students enrolled in the Course degree to find materials and documents useful to their course of study and in preparing their final dissertation. It offers also the opportunity to meet with leading experts in the field and analyze in depth sensitive issues relating to it.
http://olympus.uniurb.it/