OVERVIEW

The course “Techniques of Interpretation and Argumentation” examines the main methods used by civil-law and common- law jurists in attributing meaning to legal sources, in arguing their interpretative decisions, in applying legal norms to concrete cases, and bring out unexpressed norms through constructive arguments (such as analogical reasoning and the concretization of principles). The course also focuses on the specifics of legal reasoning involving constitutional provisions and on evidentiary reasoning.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Matters, concepts and problems of legal interpretation. Normative and cognitive theories of interpretation. Constitutional interpretation. Concepts and problems of legal argumentation. Normative and cognitive theories of legal argumentation. Elements of logic for jurists. Applications of informatics to law.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course “Techniques of Interpretation and Argumentation” aims in particular to explain to students in its first part the basic concepts of legal argumentation and the interpretation of normative texts:

• Propositional logic and legal argumentation;
• The distinction between statements and meanings and between provisions and norms;
• Ambiguity and vagueness of normative language;
• The most important concepts of “interpretation”;
• The main methods of interpretation;
• The legal discipline of interpretation.

In the second part, the teaching focuses in depth on constructive techniques and other fundamental norm-creating aspects of legal reasoning:

• Legal construction;
• Productive arguments;
• Legal principles: Balancing and Concretization;
• The specificity of constitutional interpretation;
• Analogy and precedent;
• Evidentiary reasoning;
• Legal science and legal dogmatics.
• Main conceptions of legal interpretation.

Individual study, attendance and participation in the proposed training activities will enable the student to:

• Acquire full awareness of the different phases and activities that make up the process of legal interpretation and the application of legal norms, as well as their main characteristics and the problems associated with each of them.
• Know the main theories of legal interpretation and the different interpretative techniques.
• Know the different models for analysing legal systems and be able to apply them correctly in order to reconstruct the application of rules and principles.
• Know the main problems in the justification of court decisions, the application of precedents and the presentation of evidence.
• Be able to express themselves in appropriate legal terminology.

TEACHING METHODS

The course consists of lectures with a total duration of 36 hours (equivalent to 6 CFU), in which the main concepts of argumentation theory are presented and analyzed, but also examples and practical cases are proposed and discussed. The materials used in class will be made available on Aulaweb.

Occasionally, scholars and experts in the subject or professionals may be invited to give a lecture on topics of particular interest and relevance, also to give students a greater awareness of the concrete and applicative dimension of the subject.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

I “Interpretation”. II Interpretation and interpreters. III Provision vs. norm. IV Indeterminacy and ambiguity of legal language. V Systematic defects of the law. VI Interpretative arguments. VII Constructive arguments. VIII The legal discipline of interpretation. IX The specificity of constitutional interpretation. X The balancing of constitutional principles. XI The justification of court decisions. XII The judicial precedent. XIII The jurisprudential creation of law. XIV Evidentiary reasoning. XV Legal science and legal doctrine. XVI Conceptions of legal interpretation

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Textbooks for attending students (at least 75% of registered attendance):

R. Guastini, Interpretare e argomentare, Giuffrè, Milano, 2011, first part, chs. I, II, III, IV, VII, second part (complete), third part (complete), fourth part, chs. I, II, III.

F. Schauer, Il ragionamento giuridico. Una nuova introduzione, Carocci, Roma, 2016, chs. 2, 3, 5, 9, 12.

Textbooks for non-attending students: R. Guastini, Interpretare e argomentare, Giuffré, Milano, 2011, to be prepared in full.

F. Schauer, Il ragionamento giuridico. Una nuova introduzione, Carocci, Roma, 2016, chs. 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10 and 12.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

1st semester from 15th September to 8th December 2025

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Two different examination methods are provided for the attending students, which are alternative to each other.

The first method is divided into two written tests (the first consisting of a theoretical questionnaire with twenty multiple-choice questions, the second consisting of the argumentative analysis of a sentence and an open question of a theoretical nature), which take place in the middle and at the end of the course.

The second method involves an oral examination at the end of the course and is usually divided into three/four open questions consisting of a theoretical and a more practical part. In particular, students may be required to try to reason about some practical cases.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The examination methods aim to verify the student’s actual knowledge and acquisition of the basic theoretical concepts, as well as her or his ability to recognize and apply the techniques of interpretation and reasoning to specific concrete cases. Questions of a general theoretical nature and the presentation of cases and problems of a practical nature – which usually arise for the attending students from the teaching activity – are used to check whether the student is able to:

• identify and define legal and theoretical concepts using appropriate technical language;
• recognize, distinguish, know and apply the major techniques of statutory interpretation;
• recognize, distinguish, know and apply the main techniques of legal construction;
• correctly identify the most important elements in the reasoning of a judgment, in particular taking into account precedents and reasoning in relation to facts.