OVERVIEW

The course aims to deepen the study of fundamental rights and freedoms recognized in the Constitutional Charter and in the main osupranational and international charters through a more practical approach, that is, with the examination of the relative jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court, of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights. In the academic year 2022/2023 particular attention will be placed on the protection of human rights in the course of an armed conflict.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Learning outcomes are the following: (a) allowing the student to study in more detail, human rights and fundamental freedoms, which they have already studied at the beginning of their University career. In particular the course will focus on a single human right or fundamental freedom; (b) learning how to study human rights and fundamental freedoms not only via a theoretical approach but also through a practical analysis of the Italian Constitutional Court’s, European Court of Justice’s and European Court of Human Right’s relevant case law.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide, first of all, the student:

- a general framework, in a historical-evolutionary perspective, of rights and freedoms as affirmed in the main "historical" Charters of Rights (by way of example: from the Magna Carta of 1215 to the Bill of Right of 1688, to the Declaration of Rights of man and citizen of 1789), up to the most recent Euro-unification "path" of rights

- knowledge of the approaches to the study and writing of new constitutional texts of fundamental rights and freedoms

- an overview of the main rights and freedoms protected by the Constitution and by the main supranational and international charters

Secondly, through the examination of the jurisprudential data, the student will be provided with the tools to deepen the following topics:

- the right to life and the new frontiers of parenthood (voluntary termination of pregnancy, medically assisted procreation, heterologous fertilization, surrogacy)

- the right to die and medically assisted suicide

- individual identity (and, in particular, the right to a name and the right to a maternal surname)

 - digital identity to the test of new technologies

- the rights of prisoners and the re-educational purpose of the sentence

- citizenship and political rights

- gender equality

- the rights of foreigners and migration policies

- the main restrictions on freedoms brought by the policies to combat the pandemic emergency from Covid-19, in balancing with the right to health;

Finally, particular focus will be placed to the protection of human rights in the course of an armed conflict.

Attendance, active participation in class and individual study will allow the student to:

Understand the concrete functioning of the protections and guarantees of fundamental rights and freedoms in judgments before the Constitutional Court and other major supranational and international Courts;
Analyze the different legal theses argued dialectically by the parties in the course of judgments and in the "dialogue" between the Courts;
Critically evaluate the aforementioned theses, the jurisprdential solutions adopted as well as the theoretical reconstructions proposed by the doctrine;
Develop an appropriate technical-legal language as well as the ability to use the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights in a practical context.

PREREQUISITES

To deal with the contents of this course without difficulty, it is essential that the student possess the knowledge of constitutional law (and in particular regarding the study of fundamental freedoms).

TEACHING METHODS

The course consists of frontal lectures, for a total of 36 hours (equal to 6 CFU).

During the lectures, general theoretical issues will be dealt with in the first place and then the judgments of the Constitutional Court, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights will be addressed through which the main problematic profiles concerning the constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms of stringent relevance. Particular attention will be paid to the rights and freedoms most affected in the fight against the covid-19 pandemic.

Students will be asked to actively participate, indicating the sentences that are the subject of the following lesson from week to week, so as to allow a prior reading and therefore a conscious and critical debate. They may be involved in group and / or individual activities, with the aim of assessing the level of knowledge acquired up to that point.

Occasionally, officials, scholars and experts on topics of particular interest and topicality may be invited to carry out seminars, also in order to allow students to acquire greater awareness of the concrete and applicative dimension of the subject.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

First, the Course will aim to provide the student with:

- a general framework, in a historical-evolutionary perspective, of rights and freedoms as established in the main "historical" charters of rights up to the most recent Euro-unitary "path" of rights

- a definition of the different approaches to the study and writing of fundamental rights and freedoms

- an overview of the main rights and freedoms protected by the Constitution and by the main supranational and international charters

Secondly, the following topics will be explored:

- the right to life and the new frontiers of parenthood (voluntary termination of pregnancy, medically assisted procreation, heterologous fertilization, surrogacy)

- the right to die and medically assisted suicide

- individual identity (and, in particular, the right to a name and the right to a maternal surname)

 - digital identity to the test of new technologies

- the rights of prisoners and the re-educational purpose of the sentence

- citizenship and political rights

- gender equality

- the rights of foreigners and migration policies

- the main restrictions on freedoms brought by the policies to combat the pandemic emergency from Covid-19, in balancing with the right to health.

Finally, particular focus will be placed to the protection of human rights in the course of an armed conflict.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

For attending students it will be sufficient to study on the notes and material provided by the teacher in class and reported on Aulaweb

Textbook for non-attending students chosen between:

P. Caretti, G. Tarli Barbieri, I diritti fondamentali: libertà e diritti sociali, Giappichelli, Turin, last ed.

P. Costanzo, L. Mezzetti, A. Ruggeri, Lineamenti di diritto costituzionale dell'Unione europea, Giappichelli, Turin, last ed., chapters 5,6 and 7.

For attending and non-attending students, also in order to allow the acquisition of greater familiarity with the regulatory texts, it is  recommended to consult:

P. Costanzo, Testi normativi per lo studio del diritto costituzionale italiano ed europeo,  Tomo II. Le situazioni soggettive, Giappichelli, Turin, last ed.,

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

PATRIZIA MAGARO' (President)

VINCENZO SCIARABBA

FRANCESCA BAILO (President Substitute)

MARCO BERRUTI (Substitute)

MICHELE FRANCAVIGLIA (Substitute)

SIMONE FREGA (Substitute)

FABIO GAGGERO (Substitute)

MARCO MARAZZINI (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

I semester from September 19th 2022
 

Class schedule

FREEDOM RIGHT AND SOCIAL RIGHTS

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam is oral and consists usually of three / four open questions with which to evaluate the student's knowledge about the means of protection of freedoms and fundamental rights, including through a reasoned comment on the text of one or more of the judgments making up parts of the program.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral exam aims to ascertain the actual achievement of the expected learning outcomes. In particular, the theoretical questions aim to ascertain the student's ability to learn and apply to concrete cases the legal categories set up to protect fundamental freedoms and rights. The reasoned comment on the text of one or more sentences aims to ascertain whether the student is able to identify the basic institutions learned within the sentences, understand their concrete functioning in the procedural dynamics, analyze and critically evaluate the different legal theses supported during the judgments . Finally, the set of questions aims to ascertain the development of an appropriate technical-legal language. Active participation during teaching is obviously desirable to allow the teacher to get to know the student right from the lessons in view of the evaluation during the exam.

Exam schedule