CRIMINAL LAW
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Bibliography
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
An adequate knowledge of Constitutional Law and Philosophy of Law are required.
Oral examination conducted in the way of an inverted cone: a general question followed by some more specific questions that open up further perspectives of verification.
Will be assessed in particular the ability to report the contents of the program as appropriate to the specific nature of matter the ability to connect the various institutes of criminal law, argumentation skills, technical and expressive skills.
The course aims to provide a systematic framework of the principles, structures, mechanisms and techniques of interpretation of the Italian criminal law; to offer an overview of the supranational legislation; to give basic notions of white collar crimes and of restorative justice.
At the end of the course, students should demonstrate appropriate skills in relation to the "general part" of the Italian Criminal Code (Articles 1-240 cp), the principles of the Italian Constitution in penal matters and the main rules of international conventions (in particular the European Convention of Human Rights - ECHR);
The course also aims to promote the ability to recognize the essential elements of the criminal norms and to solve practical cases taking into consideration the criminal law theory (rule of law, negligence, recklessness, justification and excuse, causation, attempted, conspiracy and so on).
Finally, the intent of the course is to promote the students’ ability to appropriately make use the legal language, giving them the tools to logically think and legally argue.
The course is a prerequisite to the Advanced criminal law course. Students must gain a range of disciplinary approaches during the course in order to develop a rational and just response to crime.
The course main object is the "general part" of the Italian Criminal Code, the main rules of the ECHR having criminal law relevance (i.e. Article 3) and the main contents of restorative justice.
The programme includes: interrelationship between criminal policy and criminal law; principles of criminal law, (rule of law and its corollaries; criminal law sources read in the light of European Union law and of the ECHR; successive criminal laws); offense theory; elements of actus reus (event, causal relationship); mental element of the offence; wrongfulness; justifications and excuses; punishments (types and sentencing); essential notions about responsibility of legal persons; the criminal jurisdiction of the justice of the peace.
One of the two following text books:
G. Marinucci, E. Dolcini, G.L. Gatta, Diritto penale, Giuffrè, Milano, 2019
or
D. Pulitanò, Diritto penale, Giappichelli, Torino, 2017, ult. ed.
Codice penale e normativa complementare, Milano, Raffaello Cortina Editore, ult. ed.
The course takes place in the first term, through 55 hours of lecture, and is enriched by the contribution of knowledge offered by Italian or foreign guests from academia, the judiciary or the Italian Bar Association.
Teaching includes:
- mainly theoretical lessons, designed to illustrate the principles and contents of criminal law;
- discussions of practical cases (which will be offered starting in mid-course) aimed to promote students' acquisition of vocabulary and techniques of argumentation.