Studying the regulation of public finance (esp. as concerns principles and institutions established by national and EU legislation), public expenditures, administration controls, public contracts and public administration liability, in order to acquire a basic knowledge on State and local governments accounting.

The course program concerns the legal regulation of public finance, public expenditures, controls, responsibility and public contracts.

In particular, the course covers the following topics.

1. Public finance and accounting (national and European public finance; sources of law and principles of public finance; public budget; budgetary procedures; hints on the budgetary procedures of local governments and public bodies);

2. the regulation of public expenditures (characters and principles of the procedures; commitment of expenditure; controls; other procedural steps; special procedures; treasury; monetary obligations of the public administrations);

3. Controls (the control relationship; types of control; hints of the controls used in the public administrations);

4. responsibility (the constitutional regulation of public responsibility for damages; the structure of the liability of the public administration; the responsibility and accountability of public employees);

5. public contracts (administering by contracts; principles and developments of the EU regulation; the organization and procedures of public contracts; public tenders concerning works and goods; public tenders concerning services and supplies; outsourcing; project financing)

It is suggested that students take first the exam of Administrative Law.

Knowledge and understanding
The graduate student who has passed the examination of Government of public finance has acquired:
- a thorough knowledge and understanding of the fundamental legal sectors;
- a deep knowledge (theoretical and applied) of the rules and institutions of Italian State and local governments accounting;
- a deep and critical knowledge of the regulation of public finance, public expenditures, controls, responsibility and public contracts.
- ability to understand purposes, contexts and consequences and policies of public budget.

Applying knowledge and understanding
The graduate student who has passed the examination of Government of public finance has acquired:
- the ability to interpret and apply the rules of European, international and national law in the field of Public Accountancy;
- the ability to search and find (also via electronic databases), to understand and use the sources, case law and documents in the field of Public Accountancy. The acquisition of the above-mentioned instruments will be verified through the following methods: tutorials on case law and final exam.

Making judgments
The graduate student who has passed the examination of Government of public finance has acquired interpretive skills, critical and analytical skills to be able to interpret the relationship between facts and theory, in order to be able to identify, represent and solve problems related to protection of citizens’ rights related to the financial and contractual activity of the public administrations, in order to produce legal texts, negotiations, litigation that are clear, relevant and effective.

Communication skills
The graduate student who has passed the examination of Government of public finance has acquired the ability to describe and deepen the legal problems related to the field of Public Accountancy in the relationship between citizens and public administrations as well as among public administrations; ability to illustrate the logical-legal paths that lead to the solution of theoretical and practical problems; ability to influence and illustrate legal points, also in opposition to other interested parties.

Learning skills
The graduate student who has passed the examination of Government of public finance has acquired the skills and the basic tools in order to be able to constantly keep himself or herself up-to-date in field of Public Accountancy and of the principles related to the public budget; the ability to understand the complexity of legal phenomena in the field of public financial relations; the ability to independently follow the evolution of the Public Accountancy and to further develop it using all the knowledge and instruments that are necessary for this purposes and have been acquired during the course of studies.

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

Teaching

Students attending the course are required to examine at home and then discuss during class materials (laws and regulations, general administrative acts, judgments, reports of the Italian Court of Auditors) which will help them to get acquainted with documents used in the field. The final grade is based also on class participation.

Innovative teaching methods

Problem-based learning. Students will be divided in small groups, and will be asked to solve problems by using materials, legal texts, etc.

Attendance

A regular participation to classes is strongly recommended.

Course books

As the texts are available only in Italian, see the Italian description of the course. Upon request, most course materials may be provided also in English.

Assessment

Oral exam.

The evaluation criteria and the scale of marks are as follows: less than 18/30: competence level insufficient; 18-20: competence level sufficient (in particular, the student should demonstrate to have acquired the basic learning results described in “knowledge and understanding"); 21-23: competence level satisfactory; 24-26: competence level good; 27-29: competence level very good; 30-30 with honours: competence level excellent (the student fully attains all the learning results and demonstrate excellent resultsa as ocncerns "applied knowledge and understanding” and “making judgments”).

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.

Assessment

Oral exam.

The evaluation criteria and the scale of marks are as follows: less than 18/30: competence level insufficient; 18-20: competence level sufficient (in particular, the student should demonstrate to have acquired the basic learning results described in “knowledge and understanding"); 21-23: competence level satisfactory; 24-26: competence level good; 27-29: competence level very good; 30-30 with honours: competence level excellent (the student fully attains all the learning results and demonstrate excellent resultsa as ocncerns "applied knowledge and understanding” and “making judgments”).

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.

Materials and other informations will be available on Prof. Gnes website (http://www.people.uniurb.it/MatteoGnes/cs.htm) and on the Blended Learning website.