Complementary Course: Criminal Law: Cases and Solutions
A.Y. 2021/2022
Learning objectives
The course has three objectives. Firstly, it aims to teach students of criminal law the technique of analyzing concrete cases, in the awareness that criminal law serves to solve real problems. Secondly, the course aims to develop the student's ability to revise the notions studied and to apply them to concrete cases, developing the capacity for interpretative analysis and systematic framing of criminal law provisions. Thirdly, the course aims to develop the ability to argue legal solutions in both written and oral form.
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of the course, the student will have acquired the method of case analysis essential for solving problems in substantive criminal law. The student will be more familiar with the Criminal Code and will also have learned the basic technique for drafting and discussing an opinion in criminal matters
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Giudizio di approvazione
Assessment result: superato/non superato
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
More specific informations on the delivery mode of training activities for the academic year 2021/22 will be provided in the coming months, based on the evolution of the public health situation.
Course syllabus
Studying criminal law through cases - already decided (and therefore real) or fictitious - allows the student to learn to apply the rules in practice, becoming familiar with the code, and to set up the solution of problems, easy or difficult, that arise in reality and represent the everyday business of judges, prosecutors, and lawyers. Working with and on cases allows you to put into practice the theoretical notions learned during the criminal law course and to use them to solve problems. Studying on cases means learning to grasp, from the narration of the fact, the profiles relevant to the law; it means then learning to qualify the facts in the light of the rules, and to apply the rules themselves. These are fundamental skills that the student will be able to put to use in view of the start to the legal profession, and the related internship.
The initial part of the module will be devoted to illustrating the technique of case analysis, providing the student with the necessary guidelines to engage in individual and group practice. Will be briefly recalled the basics learned during the course of criminal law (I semester) and additional concepts, which are essential for the solution of cases. The second part of the module will then be devoted to class discussion of cases examined and solved by students through individual work at home.
The initial part of the module will be devoted to illustrating the technique of case analysis, providing the student with the necessary guidelines to engage in individual and group practice. Will be briefly recalled the basics learned during the course of criminal law (I semester) and additional concepts, which are essential for the solution of cases. The second part of the module will then be devoted to class discussion of cases examined and solved by students through individual work at home.
Prerequisites for admission
This course complements the Criminal Law course (classes A-C, D-L, M-Q, R-Z). The participation involves the assignment of three credits. Students enrolled in the second year of the degree program - or subsequent years - who have taken the Criminal Law course, in the first semester of the academic year 2021/2022, may participate in the module.
Teaching methods
This is a 20 hours course. 10 hours will be held in the classroom (online or, if health conditions permit, in presence, with mixed-mode); 10 hours will be reserved for the individual training, to be carried out at home. The 10 hours in the classroom will be divided into 5 meetings, each of two hours. The first two meetings will include lectures, aimed at introducing students to the study of criminal law cases. The remaining three meetings will be devoted to the discussion of cases previously assigned. Students will be divided into small working groups, coordinated by tutors. Through the individual exercise, to be carried out before the meeting for the collective discussion, each student will be confronted with the solution of a case, writing a short written paper, which will be read and corrected by the teacher, without awarding a grade but only for the purpose of assessing the concepts learned. Classroom discussion will take place in working groups coordinated by tutors.
Teaching Resources
Testi consigliati:
- F. Viganò, M. Miedico, T. Trinchera, Studiare sui casi. Materiali integrativi per il corso di Diritto penale, Giappichelli, 2020.
- E. Dolcini, G.L. Gatta, Codice penale e norme complementari, 7th ed., Giuffrè Francis Lefebvre, 2021
- F. Viganò, M. Miedico, T. Trinchera, Studiare sui casi. Materiali integrativi per il corso di Diritto penale, Giappichelli, 2020.
- E. Dolcini, G.L. Gatta, Codice penale e norme complementari, 7th ed., Giuffrè Francis Lefebvre, 2021
Assessment methods and Criteria
The learning will be verified through the exercises that will take place in class as well as written works - solutions of cases - assigned by the teacher. Each student is expected to hand in one written paper. It is the faculty of the student to deliver a second paper. Attendance to at least 70% of the lessons/exercises in the classroom, together with the positive evaluation of at least one paper, among those delivered, involves the attribution of 3 CFU. In evaluating the written papers, the student's ability to analyze and solve the case, applying the rules and theoretical notions learned during the course of criminal law will be taken into account.
If the health situation allows it, compatibly with the availability of classrooms and the respect of the necessary security conditions, the written papers can be written in the classroom. Vice versa, the drafting will be carried out by each student at home and sent by email to the teacher, according to methods and times that will be communicated through ARIEL.
If the health situation allows it, compatibly with the availability of classrooms and the respect of the necessary security conditions, the written papers can be written in the classroom. Vice versa, the drafting will be carried out by each student at home and sent by email to the teacher, according to methods and times that will be communicated through ARIEL.
Professor(s)