OVERVIEW

The course provides a comparative analysis of the fundamental rights recognized by national constitutions—with a particular focus on Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States—and by the main supranational charters, such as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

After a theoretical introduction to the conceptual foundations of fundamental rights, the course focuses on the analysis of current issues addressed by constitutional and supranational courts, including freedom of expression, climate change, and end-of-life issues.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide students with a sufficiently in-depth knowledge of fundamental freedoms, with a particular focus on the freedom of expression and its implications.

By the end of the course, students will have acquired a good level of awareness of the role of fundamental rights in shaping public debate in democratic countries; they will also have understood the main issues involved in balancing constitutional rights and will be able to use the conceptual tools of comparative constitutional law to analyse complex social contexts.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The primary objective of the course is to provide students with a good level of critical awareness of fundamental rights.

To this end, at the end of the course, students will:

- be familiar with the positive regulation of the main fundamental rights in Italy and in some particularly significant foreign contexts, as well as the most important methods of protection;

- be able to use legal terminology independently and correctly;

- have understood the main functions of fundamental rights, including that of protecting individuals from threats posed by public authorities or third parties;

- be able to identify the main challenges that technological development poses for the concrete enjoyment and effective protection of the main rights enshrined in constitutional texts;

- be able to read and correctly interpret court decisions concerning the protection of fundamental rights;

- be able to classify the various catalogs of rights existing in the European area and the courts responsible for their protection;

- be informed about the main issues addressed in recent years by constitutional and supranational courts in the legal systems studied.

PREREQUISITES

In order to effectively address the course content, knowledge of the fundamental concepts of public law, comparative constitutional law, and European Union law is recommended. Therefore, students coming from degree programs that do not include the study of public law are advised to consult with the instructor regarding additional reading material to aid their understanding.

TEACHING METHODS

The course consists of 36 hours of lectures.
The first part of the course, estimated at 12 hours, is aimed at focusing on the main notions relevant to the discourse on fundamental rights and is structured in lectures.
The second part of the course will be more dialogical. The teacher will provide through the aulaweb platform some materials that students must read before the lesson (for each lesson will be read contributions of about 20 pages); the lesson, after an introduction of the teacher, will be aimed to discuss, under the supervision of the teacher, the materials provided, in order to highlight the most significant or problematic aspects.
The purpose of the discussions is to promote a certain level of autonomy in the analysis of legal texts.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Part 1 – Introductory elements

- Categories of fundamental rights;

- Freedom in the 19th-century liberal state and freedom in the contemporary pluralist democratic state

- Constitutional protection of fundamental rights and supranational protection.

Part 2 – Fundamental freedoms and rights

- Freedoms in the private sphere;

- Freedoms in the public sphere;

- Freedom of expression and its various forms;

- Equality and social rights;

- Political participation rights

- Environmental rights

- “New” rights

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Attending students may prepare for the exam on the following texts:

- L. Cuocolo, Costituzioni, Milano, Egea, 2021;

- F. Clementi, L. Cuocolo, F. Rosa, G.E. Vigevani, Commentario alla Costituzione, Vol. 1, Bologna, il Mulino, 2021.

Some of the course material will be provided by the instructor via the aulaweb platform.

In addition to the two texts mentioned above, non-attending students can also prepare themselves on: 
G.F. Ferrari, Le libertà. Profili comparatistici, Torino, Giappichelli, 2011

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

The lectures are scheduled in the second term.

Class schedule

CIVIL LIBERTIES AND HUMAN RIGHTS

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

As a general rule, the exam will be oral and held in Italian. 

Students of Erasmus programme (or other similar programmes scheduling only a temporary stay) are allowed, on request, to sit the exam in other languages (English and French are available).

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral discussion is designed to specifically test the following abilities:
- the student's ability to express himself/herself in technically appropriate language;
- the knowledge of the main fundamental rights and their peculiarities;
- the understanding of the main functions of fundamental rights in the face of both public and social powers;
- the student's ability to identify the main risks posed by technological development to the effective protection of fundamental rights.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Ask the professor for other information not included in the teaching schedule.