This course is intended for students who already possess a good understanding of the fundamentals of Criminal Law, and forms a first, necessary completion of the subject through the study of a group of criminal regulations which form the backbone of the Special Section of the Criminal Law code: crimes against the person. By proposing the analysis of these areas of law, the course will provide a working environment within which students will be called upon to organise and utilise the conceptual instruments and the arsenal of arguments to be found in the “general theory” of Criminal Law, and to use them for analysis of and practical application to individual offences.
Furthermore the course aims to improve the student’s appropriate use of juridical and penal language and his or her independent legal debating skills, with a problem solving approach, so that communication and relational skills will also be improved.
For the 2023/2024 academical year, the course will be presented in a 6 CFU form (third year students).
The 6 CFU course (35 hours) will offer advanced knowledge about crimes against life and individual integrity, maternity, moral freedom and dignity.
At the end of the course the student will be expected to demonstrate skills in relation to the following aspects: (a) techniques and models of incrimination; (b) the role and function of International Conventions concerning options of criminalisation and the applicative principles in the case of crimes against the person; (c) contents and modes of interpretation made by doctrine and jurisprudence of the criminal cases considered during the course. In particular students are required to be able to recognise correctly the essential elements of the individual prosecuting laws and to resolve practical cases in respect of the most significant and statistically relevant case studies examined during the course.
Criminal Law is a mandatory test paper both in the Italian Bar exam and in the State competitive Examinations necessary to become Judges in Court.
To get the most out of the course and to prepare effectively for the exam, it is fundamental that students have a good knowledge of the institutions of the General Part of the Criminal Law code. Students are therefore encouraged to carefully revise a Manual of the General Part of the criminal code. Knowledge of Constitutional Law is also required, including basic elements of Community Law and International Law (for a correct understanding of the role of Conventions and of prosecution requests from the EU).
The course looks at a group of relevant crimes against the person (life, physical integrity, maternity, moral freedom and dignity) that are part of the Penal Code. The course will take place in the second term, with 35 contact hours in complex.
The teaching includes:
• lectures, mainly on theoretical topics to illustrate the principles and institutions of Criminal Law necessary to comprehend crimes, including some elements of Criminology;
• jurisprudence case study discussions, set forth with power point presentations and original documents made available on the e-learning platform, aimed at helping students to acquire Criminal Law terminology, to refine their use of analytical techniques and to develop a correct style of legal debate and discussion. Students will be required to intervene.
• seminars on controversial case law problems, designed to promote either appropriate use of juridical and penal language and relational and team cooperation skills.
• conferences with experts and in cooperation with magistrates

The check of the e-learning platform, where documents, cases and other mandatory materials will be uploaded, is required.
There will be an oral final test on the program due The final grade will be expressed in a grade from 18 to 30. It will be taken into account the (ability of communicate) the knowledge of the topics which are part of the program (60%), the independent legal debating skills and problem