AIMS AND CONTENT

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide students with the knowledge necessary to understand comparative public law, its historical development and current trends, with reference to the most significant constitutional experiences and the process of European integration.

In particular, the course aims to provide students with in-depth knowledge of the comparative analysis of principles, institutions and rules belonging to different constitutional systems, from both a synchronic and diachronic perspective.

Attendance at lectures and individual study will enable students to:

- acquire the specific vocabulary of the discipline, also with a view to examining and understanding scientific literature in foreign languages;

- identify the fundamental values and principles that have characterized the historical evolution from the liberal state to the democratic state;

- acquire a rational view of models, institutions and conceptual categories of analysis specific to civil law and common law systems, with particular reference to forms of state, systems of government, fundamental rights, sources of law and judicial guarantees;

- acquire the knowledge necessary to read and understand the constitutional, legislative and jurisprudential sources of certain foreign legal systems, in order to effectively compare different areas of public law;

- use theoretical knowledge to critically assess the relationship between the normative dimension and the concrete functioning of constitutional systems.

TEACHING METHODS

The course consists of lectures totalling 54 hours (equivalent to 9 ECTS credits), during which the topics covered in the programme will be presented in detail. Some lectures, which may take the form of seminars, will be held by the professor, possibly together with Italian or foreign experts, to explore topics of particular interest or relevance.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course develops the following topics from a comparative perspective:

- Purpose and method of comparison in public law

- Constitutions, constitutionalism and the dynamics of the Constitution

- Classification of systems of government

- Institutional forms of territorial distribution of power (with particular attention to federalism, regionalism and the European Union)

- Systems of government

- Specific aspects of constitutional organisation (parliament, government, head of state)

- Institutions of direct democracy

- Fundamental rights and freedoms

- Constitutional justice

Particular attention will be paid to the most historically significant state experiences (the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Switzerland and Spain), which constitute the constitutional models of reference for contemporary democracies.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The textbooks for attending students (who have attended at least 75% of the lectures) are:

- G. Morbidelli, M. Volpi, G. Cerrina Feroni, Diritto Costituzionale Comparato, G. Giappichelli Editore, Torino, 2024 (only the parts that will be communicated by the professor during the lectures, based on the topics covered).

- F. Furlan, S. Gianello, M. Iacometti, C. Martinelli, G. E. Vigevani, M. P. Viviani Schlein, Costituzioni comparate, G. Giappichelli Editore, Torino, 2022.

Non-attending students will take the exam based on the complete study of the following volumes:

- G. Morbidelli, M. Volpi, G. Cerrina Feroni, Diritto Pubblico Comparato, G. Giappichelli Editore, Torino, 2020.

- F. Furlan, S. Gianello, M. Iacometti, C. Martinelli, G. E. Vigevani, M. P. Viviani Schlein, Costituzioni comparate, G. Giappichelli Editore, Torino, 2022.

Teaching materials (slides used by the professor in class, legal references, and texts for further study) will be available on the Aulaweb platform.

Alternative books for international students will be recommended by the professor at the beginning of the course. Further reading will be recommended during the course.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Classes will be held during the first semester of the academic year 2025/2026 (according to the calendar and timetable available on EasyAcademy-Unige).

Class schedule

PUBLIC COMPARATIVE LAW MOD. 1 A

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

For attending and non-attending students, the exam is oral and consists of a series of questions (approximately four). Students must register for the exam online within the specified time frame. Failure to register will result in the inability to take the exam.

The exam committee is chaired by the professor teaching the course.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral exam is designed to assess knowledge of the topics covered in the course, with particular reference to the principles and institutions relating to the constitutional organisation of the foreign legal systems considered.

The level of learning will be assessed with a final mark out of 30, awarded on the basis of an interview aimed at assessing the student's understanding of the topics covered in the course, the quality of their presentation (clarity, precision, mastery of legal language, organisation of discourse), and their ability to critically analyse and personally rework the topics studied.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students are invited to register for the course on Aulaweb.