Public Law

As an indication, the course examines: the foundations of a legal order; the forms of State; the forms of government; the international law and the relationships between the international legal order and the national legal order (overall view); the European legal order and the relationships between the European Union law and the national law; the system of the sources of law; the principles of Italian constitutional order; the institutions of representative democracy and the referendum; the Italian legislative power; the Italian President of the Republic; the Italian executive power; the Italian regional and local government; the Italian system of public administration; the Italian judicial system; the Italian judicial review of legislation and the Constitutional Court, the fundamental rights.

Syllabus includes: the characteristics of the legal phenomenon, legal entities and legal relationship, the concept and elements of the legal order and the relationship between the sources of law and interpretation, the division of law and the areas of public law, the different conceptions and characteristics of the Constitution, the constituent elements of the State and the concept of the form of the State and the forms of State (absolute, police, liberal, pluralist and social, unitary, federal, regional), the concept of the form of government and the forms of government (presidential, semi-presidential and parliamentary, and their variants), the outlines of Italian institutional history and the principles characterising the Italian legal order, the electorate, electoral function and referendum to repeal, electoral laws and political rights, the Parliament (historical origins, structure, training and duration, organisation and autonomy, the status of parliamentarian and the Parliament in a joint session), the Government of the Republic (structure, training, organisation, functions and responsibilities), the legislative and regulatory function of the State (ordinary law and constitutional laws and constitutional revision, acts having the force of law and regulations), the function of political direction and control between Parliament and Government, the Public Administration (organization and public service relations), the independent authorities and auxiliary bodies, the President of the Republic (role and position in the Italian constitutional system, election and term of office, impediments and substitution, functions, responsibilities and institution of counter-signature); the regions and local authorities (constitutional position, form of government, statutory and regulatory autonomy, sharing of legislative and administrative powers, relations with the European Union) and the regulatory function of the regions and local authorities (regional statutes and laws, local statutes and regulations), the judicial system (the legal status of magistrates and the Superior Council of the Judiciary, the system of administrative and accounting justice, constitutional principles relating to the exercise of judicial function, double degree of jurisdiction and role of the Court of Cassation), the Constitutional Court and the constitutional justice system (incidental and direct access, types of judgments, judgment on attribution conflicts and between State and Region, judgment on the accusations, balance between constitutional values), personal freedom, freedom of domicile, movement and residence, secrecy of correspondence, religious freedom, expression of thought, assembly, association, private economic initiative, the right to property, the right to education, the right to health, the right to social security and employment, public duties, the European protection of the rights of freedom and new rights, the mechanisms for institutional linkage between the Italian Republic and the European Union.