OVERVIEW

The course in Criminal Procedure Law II focuses on the study of the “dynamic” aspects of criminal procedure law, i.e. the development of criminal proceedings, their forms, content and variations, starting from the reporting of a crime and ending with the enforcement phase.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The police activities and the powers of the public prosecutor from crime report until the conclusion of the investigation. The preliminary hearing contents and its decision rules. The category of special proceedings, and their interconnection with the "ordinary" process. The trial dynamics with specific reference to evidence law. The characteristics of the appeal proceedings and of the proceedings before the Supreme Court.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

In particular, the course in Criminal Procedure II aims to provide students with extensive knowledge and in-depth case law analysis in the field of criminal procedure, with specific reference to the following topics:

•  Reporting a crime and its registration;
•  Preliminary investigations, with particular attention to the activities carried out at this stage by the judicial police, the public prosecutor and the defence lawyer;
• The dismissal procedure;
• Forms of criminal prosecution;
• The content and form of the preliminary hearing, as well as the rules underlying the decision not to proceed and the indictment;
• Special trials and their interconnection with “ordinary” trials;
• The dynamics of the trial with specific reference to the examination of evidence;
• Ordinary and extraordinary means of appeal

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

• Understand and remember the regulatory provisions governing criminal proceedings;
• Understand the structure and mechanisms of criminal proceedings and be aware of their diversifications;
• Identify the different stages of the proceedings in terms of their development, content and outcome (with particular reference to the rules governing decisions); understand, interpret and apply the relevant regulations;
• Distinguish between the different special proceedings, understand their rationale and their respective “interconnections” with ordinary proceedings;
• Identify, understand and distinguish the sub-phases of the trial and their content, with particular reference to the chapter on evidence;
• Understand the provisions governing appeals and be able to critically distinguish between the use of different ordinary or extraordinary means of appeal, identifying their content and outcomes;
• Understand and contextualise any legislative measures relating to the code of criminal procedure or extra-codified procedural legislation;
• Read and critically examine, with independent judgement, scientific articles on criminal procedural law, texts of judgments of the courts of merit, legitimacy and the Constitutional Court, and European judgments relating to criminal procedural issues;
• Acquiring appropriate technical legal language and using it to express oneself correctly.

PREREQUISITES

In order to fully understand the subject, it is necessary to have studied constitutional law, international law, European Union law, criminal law and, above all, criminal procedural law I.

TEACHING METHODS

The course consists of lectures, for a total of 54 hours (equivalent to 9 CFU), during which the dynamics of the criminal process will be presented and analysed, with parallel discussion of the most relevant jurisprudential orientations on the topics covered by the programme.
Texts of particularly relevant judgments and any regulatory reform texts will be published periodically on Aulaweb for specific in-depth analysis and collective discussion.

Visits to the Court of Assizes will be organised to allow students to attend one or more hearings and appreciate the decision taken by the judge, reasoning on it in light of the substantive and procedural issues that characterise the specific case and which will be discussed in class prior to the visit.

Occasionally, scholars, magistrates and lawyers may be invited to give a lecture on topics of particular interest and relevance, and films may be screened, also with a view to enabling students to gain a greater awareness of the practical aspects of the subject.

With regard to students with valid certifications for Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs), disabilities or other educational needs, they are invited to contact the lecturer and the Department's disability liaison (Prof. Isabel Fanlo Cortes, email isa.fanlo@unige.it) at the beginning of the course to agree on possible teaching modalities that, while respecting the objectives of the teaching, take into account individual learning modes.

Students with a disability certificate or SLD can request compensatory measures during exams (e.g., extra time, concept maps and diagrams, changes in written/oral mode).

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The report of the offence and its registration. The public prosecutor's records. Investigations by the judicial police. Investigations by the public prosecutor. Defence in preliminary investigations. The preliminary hearing. The duration of preliminary investigations. The conclusion of preliminary investigations (ACIP, dismissal, prosecution). The preliminary hearing. The trial. Special proceedings (summary judgment, application of the penalty at the request of the parties, immediate judgment, direct judgment, decree proceedings, suspension of the trial with probation). The principles governing appeals. The appeal. The ordinary appeal to the Supreme Court. Extraordinary means of appeal.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Textbooks and any reading materials for attending students  
P. TONINI - C. CONTI, Manuale di procedura penale (Manual of Criminal Procedure), latest edition, Giuffrè  (Part III; Part IV, excluding Chapters II, III, IV, V; Part V). 

Textbooks and any reading materials for non-attending students 
P. TONINI - C. CONTI, Manuale di procedura penale (Manual of Criminal Procedure), latest edition, Giuffrè (part III; part IV; part V; part VI chapter I). 

Attending and non-attending students must use the following updated code of criminal procedure as an essential tool for exam preparation:
BELLUTA-GIALUZ-LUPARIA, Codice sistematico di procedura penale (Systematic Code of Criminal Procedure), latest edition, Giappichelli.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

10th february 2026

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam is oral, takes place in a single session, and generally consists of three questions aimed at assessing the student's knowledge of the various parts of the programme.

Any mid-term exam, expected to take place around the middle of the course, will be reserved for students with at least 70% attendance.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral exam aims to verify the student's effective knowledge and acquisition of the theoretical concepts related to the topics covered in the programme.
Through general theoretical questions, the exam will verify whether the student is able to:

• identify and define legal concepts using appropriate technical language;
• identify, distinguish, understand, interpret and apply, with a critical spirit and independent judgement, both the regulatory provisions governing the conduct of criminal proceedings, in all their forms and aspects, and the texts of certain fundamental judgments, knowledge of which is essential for a complete understanding of the subject.