The course will focus on the function that the criminal trial has always carried out as an indispensable "tool of solution" for every democratically organized society, caught between the need to judge (and possibly punish) and the impossibility to reach the certainty of truth: the trial represents the shared cognitive itinerary which allows the judge to pass from the “res iudicanda” to the “res iudicata”, and the community to accept this decision as a conventional "procedural truth".

The constitutional and supranational coordinates which trace the fundamental features of our criminal trial will be the first topics of the course, with the aim of understand how these legal acts led to the adoption of the 1989 code of criminal procedure and to the 1999 constitutional reform.

The course examines the structure and phases of the criminal proceeding; illustrates the functions and powers of its protagonists and its main acts.

The aim is to develop: the awareness of the values that characterize our procedural system, the ability to assess the adequacy of the balance drawn from time to time between the ascertaining responsibility and the rights protection, the appropriateness of the technical solutions developed by the lawmaker.

Particular attention will be paid to the issues at the center of the political-legislative debate and to the interpretative issues on which jurisprudential conflicts are recorded.

The fundamental principles of criminal trial

The fair process in the Constitution

The subjects

The acts and their sanctioning system

The evidence

The precautionary measures

The preliminary investigations

The preliminary hearing

The pre-trial phase

The first degree trial

The means of challenge against the sentence

The final sentence and the double jeopardy principle

Criminal law (pt. 1)

A) Knowledge and understanding - The student must show to have  a  suitable knowledge of the sources of the Italian criminal trial and the ability of understanding of its constitutional and international principles and he also must show his understanding of its translation offered by  the criminal procedure laws.

B) Applying knowledge and understanding - The student must show to be able to apply his  knowledge by formulating possible interpretative solutions on controversial issues relating to criminal procedural law.

C) Making judgements - The student must show to be able to integrate knowledge of  criminal procedure law institutes with those of the constitutional and European right, as well with those of similar disciplines (es. judicial system, penitentiary right, civil and administrative trial right)  and to make critical judgments on the basis of  this interdisciplinary platform.

D) Communication skills - The student must show to be an active part in seminars, groupworks and in any planned activities  in the living law laboratories , he must also show to  be able to explain clearly and effectively  the reached conclusions on the argumentative plan, dealing with teachers and with colleagues.

E) Learning skills - The student must show to have developed the learning skills  to continue the study  of the criminal procedure on his own  and that he has the means to  understand the main criticalities of the system  end possible reforms to amend them. 

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

Guided tutorials.
Seminars of study.

Teaching

Lectures, characterized by dialogue teaching, in order to develop in the students the ability to use a technically appropriate and rigorous legal language, to critically analyze legislative solutions and jurisprudential orientations, to resolve concrete issues relating to the topics dealt with, interacting with the teacher and colleagues .

In-depth seminars will be organized on legislative and jurisprudential topics, with the participation of legal practitioners (magistrates, lawyers, police officers, experts who play the role of experts and technical consultants).

Participation in criminal hearings will also be organized, at the end of which the main applied institutes and the issues addressed will be discussed.

Innovative teaching methods

Debate, Flipped Classroom.

Course books

One of the following manuals, in the latest edition:

Bargis, Compendio di procedura penale, Wolters Kluwer - Cedam, chapters I, II, III, IV, V, VII, IX, X (paragraphs 1-5)

Camon, Cesari, Daniele, Di Bitonto, Negri, Paulesu, Fondamenti di procedura penale, Wolters Kluwer - Cedam, chapters: from I to XV, from XVII to XIX, XX (paragraphs 1-5).

It’s mandatory to use an updated code of criminal procedure.

Assessment

The exam is comprehensive of bot the modules of criminal procedure (1st and 2nd module) 
The exam foresee a written and an oral part.
The written test success is only needed to access the oral test, and it is aimed to ascertain the knowledge of the fundamentals of the matter.
The oral test is composed by at least three questions: it will verify the knowledge and the understanding of the dynamics and legal institutions of criminal procedure. The completeness of information, the correct use of procedural terminology, the ability to critically analyze legal institutions, to identify the most problematic issues, to apply the concepts learned to concrete cases will also be assessed.

The evaluation criteria and the scale of grades are the following:

less than 18/30: insufficient competence level. The student doesn’t reach the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”.

18/20: sufficient competence level. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”.

21/23: satisfactory competence level. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding” and in “applied knowledge and understanding”.

24/26: good competence level. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”, “applied knowledge and understanding” and “making judgments”.

27/29: very good competence level. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”, “applied knowledge and understanding”, “making judgments” and “communication skills”.

30/30 with honors: excellent competence level. The student fully attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”, “applied knowledge and understanding”, “making judgments” and “learning skills”.

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.

Course books

One of the following manuals, in the latest edition:

Bargis, Compendio di procedura penale, Wolters Kluwer - Cedam, chapters I, II, III, IV, V, VII, IX, X (paragraphs 1-5)

Camon, Cesari, Daniele, Di Bitonto, Negri, Paulesu, Fondamenti di procedura penale, Wolters Kluwer - Cedam, chapters: from I to XV, from XVII to XIX, XX (paragraphs 1-5).

It’s mandatory to use an updated code of criminal procedure.

In order to give non-attending students the opportunity to compensate for what they have done in class through self-study, the following materials referring to the same syllabus content are provided to promote full understanding:

Giostra, Prima lezione sulla giustizia penale, Laterza, 2020.

Assessment

The exam is comprehensive of bot the modules of criminal procedure (1st and 2nd module) 
The exam foresee a written and an oral part.
The written test success is only needed to access the oral test, and it is aimed to ascertain the knowledge of the fundamentals of the matter.
The oral test is composed by at least three questions: it will verify the knowledge and the understanding of the dynamics and legal institutions of criminal procedure. The completeness of information, the correct use of procedural terminology, the ability to critically analyze legal institutions, to identify the most problematic issues, to apply the concepts learned to concrete cases will also be assessed.

The evaluation criteria and the scale of grades are the following:

less than 18/30: insufficient competence level. The student doesn’t reach the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”.

18/20: sufficient competence level. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”.

21/23: satisfactory competence level. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding” and in “applied knowledge and understanding”.

24/26: good competence level. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”, “applied knowledge and understanding” and “making judgments”.

27/29: very good competence level. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”, “applied knowledge and understanding”, “making judgments” and “communication skills”.

30/30 with honors: excellent competence level. The student fully attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”, “applied knowledge and understanding”, “making judgments” and “learning skills”.

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.