OVERVIEW

The course “Constitutional Law II” traditionally focuses on a specific area of Constitutional Law. Specifically, in A.Y. 2024/25 the course focuses on the Italian constitutional justice, with specific attention (in the second part of the course) to the relationships between the Italian Constitutional Court and the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Learning outcomes are the following: (a) allowing the student to study in more detail, the fundamental concepts, which they have already studied at the beginning of their University career; (b) learning how to study Constitutional Law not only via a theoretical approach but also through a practical analysis of the Italian Constitutional Court’s relevant case law.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Attending and actively participating to the lessons, and studying individually will allow students to:

• Understand the substantive and procedural concepts concerning the Italian constitutional law and constitutional justice

• Identify these concepts within the judgements of the Constitutional Court;

• Analyse the different legal views argued by the parties during trials before the Constitutional Court;

• Critically evaluate the aforementioned views, the solutions given by the Constitutional Court and theoretical frameworks;

• Develop an appropriate legal language as well as the ability to rely on constitutional case-law with regards to practical cases;

• Develop the ability to communicate effectively in written and oral form, adapt communication to the context, use sources and aids of various kinds, critical thinking, ability to use, process and evaluate information, dialectical skills

PREREQUISITES

In order to deal with this course without difficulty, it is essential that students possess the basic knowledge of constitutional law already acquired during the course of Constitutional Law I.

TEACHING METHODS

The course consists of 54 hours (9 CFU).

In the first part of the course, the constitutional process will be analysed: the incidental review, the direct review, the conflicts between state powers, the conflicts between state and regions, also through the examination of the legislation and some case-law of the Constitutional Court.

In the second part of the course, the main case-law of the Constitutional Court on the relationships with the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights will be examined.

Academic or practitioners may occasionally be invited to offer a complementary view.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

1. Incidental review

2. Direct review

3. Conflicts between state powers

4. Conflicts between state and regions

5. The jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court on the relationship with the European Court of Justice

6. The jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court on the ECHR

7. Recent case-law of the Constitutional Court

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

For students who attend classes: 

• E. Malfatti-S. Panizza-R. Romboli, Giustizia costituzionale, Settima edizione, Torino, Giappichelli, 2021, con riguardo alle seguenti parti:

• Capitolo I, Sezione I e III
• Capitolo II
• Capitolo III
• Capitolo IV
• Capitolo V
• Capitolo VIII, Sezione I, II, III, IV
• Capitolo IX

• legislation concerning the Italian Constitutional Court 

• the following case-law (www.cortecostituzionale.it):

- sent. Corte cost. n. 13/19

- sent. Corte cost. n. 1/14

- sent. Corte cost. n. 221/15

- ord. Corte cost. n. 132/20

- sent. Corte cost. n. 150/21

- sent. Corte cost. n. 65/24

- sent. Corte cost. n. 170/84

- ord. Corte cost. n. 103/08

- ord. Corte cost. n. 207/13

- sent. Corte cost. n. 269/17

- sent. Corte cost. n. 348/07

- sent. Corte cost. n. 49/15

• elective reading: 

E. Albanesi, Corte costituzionale e parere della Corte EDU tra questioni di principio e concretezza del giudizio costituzionale, Torino, Giappichelli, 2021

EXTRA READING for students who do not attend classes: 

• E. Malfatti-S. Panizza-R. Romboli, Giustizia costituzionale, Settima edizione, Torino, Giappichelli, 2021:

• Capitolo VI
• Capitolo VII

The aforementioned programs are for students enrolled for the first time in the fifth year in the academic year 2024/25 as well as, starting from May 2025, also for all other students. For the latter, the previous program of the Constitutional Law II course is valid up to and including February 2025 (unless the students themselves wish to bring the new program).

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

ENRICO ALBANESI (President)

SIMONE PITTO

ELEONORA CECCHERINI (Substitute)

MARCO MARAZZINI (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Monday 16 September 16:00 (sharp)

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral exam with three/four open questions, some of a theoretical nature and some consisting of a reasoned comment on the text of one or more of the judgements or legislation constituting parts of the program.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam aims to ascertain the actual achievement of the expected learning outcomes. In particular, the theoretical questions aim to ascertain the students' ability to understand the functioning of the concepts of constitutional law and procedural law of constitutional justice. The reasoned comment on the text of one or more judgements aims to ascertain whether students are able to identify the aforementioned concepts within the judgements of the Constitutional Court, understand their actual  functioning in the process, analyse and critically evaluate the different legal views in case law . Finally, the set of questions aims to ascertain the development of an appropriate legal language. Active participation during teaching is obviously desirable to allow the teacher to get to know the students in view of the evaluation during the exam.

Students with a disability or SLD certification may request the use of compensatory measures (e.g. additional time, concept maps and diagrams, modifications in the written/oral mode) during the examination, following the procedure indicated in the guidelines (p. 5) published here