09646 - Comparative Criminal Law

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to enable students to acquire knowledge of the comparative method in criminal matters through theoretical lectures and practical exercises. The course offers historical, systematic and normative notions about selected topics related to both the general part and the special part of criminal law. The student will be provided with the tools to orientate both in the main civil law systems and in those of common law, in the awareness that the increasing openness to supranational sources that affects our subject increasingly requires comparison with the regulatory solutions adopted by the other legal systems. Through the practical exercises the student will learn the methods of research and analysis of their comparison

Course contents

Prerequisites: possession of the fundamental notions of the Italian penal system. The course is divided into two modules taught respectively by prof.ssa Silvia Tordini Cagli and by Dr. Paolo Lobba. The course includes a first part dedicated to the introduction of general methods of comparison in the criminal field. Thematic paths of both the general part and the special part follow. In this last sector, particular attention is paid to the problems that are subject to harmonization dynamics, formal or informal, at a European or international level (think for example of torture, terrorism, denial, organized crime or information technology, fake news). The various themes are addressed through the analysis of principles and institutes coming from different European and American legal systems, chosen for their paradigmatic value with respect to fundamental penalistic questions or to very current debates. Considerable importance is the examination of recent legislative reforms, ongoing debates and, in a predominant manner, previous jurisprudential cases - of internal courts, European or international - that will be the focus of case studies introduced by the teacher in class and deepened through work group discussion, collective discussion, and the presentation (optional) of short papers.

Readings/Bibliography

For students attending,  the exam program will be agreed with the teacher, based on the work done in class. In any case, it is reccomended the reading of: F Palazzo - M. Papa, Lezioni di diritto penale comparato, Giappichelli, Torino, 2013, pp. 70-250. b

For non-attending students: F. Palazzo - M. Papa, lezioni di dirio penale comparato, Giappichelli, Torino, 2013, pp. 70-250.

It is possible that update integrations are reported and adequately publicized in the event that regulatory changes occur.

Teaching methods

Lectures, which will be combined with group work, practical applications of the comparative method through the analysis of foreign legal texts and jurisprudence and short thematic presentations followed by Q & A.

Assessment methods

The exam takes place in oral form and verifies the verification of the contents proposed in the program. For students, knowledge assessment procedures are frequently provided, which will be explained in more detail during the course, including the preparation of an oral presentation and / or a short essay written on a topic agreed upon with the teacher.

Office hours

See the website of Silvia Tordini Cagli

See the website of Paolo Lobba