50256 - FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN EUROPE
Department of Law
Course taught in English
ACME (6 credits - I sem. - OP | IUS/21) - AFC (6 credits - I sem. - OP | IUS/21) - AI (6 credits - I sem. - OP | 12 credits IUS/21) - CLELI (6 credits - I sem. - OP | IUS/21) - CLMG (6 credits - I sem. - OP | IUS/21) - DES-ESS (6 credits - I sem. - OP | IUS/21) - DSBA (6 credits - I sem. - OP | IUS/21) - EMIT (6 credits - I sem. - OP | IUS/21) - ESS (6 credits - I sem. - OP | IUS/21) - FIN (6 credits - I sem. - OP | IUS/21) - GIO (6 credits - I sem. - OP | IUS/21) - IM (6 credits - I sem. - OP | IUS/21) - MM (6 credits - I sem. - OP | IUS/21) - PPA (6 credits - I sem. - OP | IUS/21) - TS (6 credits - I sem. - OP | IUS/21)
Course Director:
GRAZIELLA ROMEO
GRAZIELLA ROMEO
Suggested background knowledge
It is recommended that students have already taken exams in Constitutional Law.
Mission & Content Summary
MISSION
Rights are examples of ‘Essentially contested concepts. Their meaning, level of protection, and the balance between competing rights and interests are open to debate. Understanding the contemporary dynamics of rights protection requires a closer look at the mechanisms envisaged for their safeguard at the national, supranational (EU), and international (European Convention on Human Rights) levels. Against this backdrop, the course examines how fundamental rights are protected in practice in the European context, which is understood as a multi-layered legal system. The course is divided into two modules. The first module examines the European Convention on Human Rights system, from its inception till nowadays, and discuss the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights on specific rights. The second module focuses on the system of fundamental rights in the European Union, stressing the crucial role of the Court of Justice of the EU. The final classes of the course discuss the interplay between the domestic and the European systems of fundamental rights protection, its tensions and potential for cooperation.
CONTENT SUMMARY
The course starts with a historical outlook of the concepts of ‘civil liberties' and ‘fundamental rights’, focusing on the mechanisms envisaged for their protection at the national, supranational and international levels. The main topics of the course are:
- Concepts and conceptualizations of rights from a historical and comparative perspective.
- The protection of fundamental rights in the national context, with example from within and outside Europe.
- The protection of fundamental rights in the EU context.
- The interplay between the EU and other systems of protection of fundamental rights.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
- Understand fundamental rights and civil liberties in their historical and geographical context.
- Understand how fundamental rights impact the design of a multilevel legal order.
- Identify the mechanisms envisaged by domestic and European Union law to protect fundamental rights.
- Understand the interplay between national and European case law on the protection of fundamental rights.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
- Critically assess how rights are protected in the context of the European multilevel legal orders.
- Critically evaluate potential conflicts deriving from the interplay between national and European mechanisms for protecting rights.
- Combine (national and European) legal materials to build legal arguments concerning the balancing between competing rights and conflicting interests.
Teaching methods
- Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
- Collaborative Works / Assignments
DETAILS
- The discussion of case studies developed throughout the course to deepen the understanding of the topics addressed in the course.
- Group assignments are designed to promote students' ability to build legal arguments in the European multilevel legal system context.
- Moreover, students are encouraged to engage in class discussion and share their personal understanding of the topics.
- The course may also include guest speakers' talks aimed at providing students with insight on specific problems concerning the protection of fundamental rights in Europe.
Assessment methods
| Continuous assessment | Partial exams | General exam | |
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ATTENDING STUDENTS
Attending students are expected to:
- Actively participate in the classes;
- Study the slides and the notes of each class;
- Read and study the papers and the judgments indicated in the Syllabus and discuss them in class.
They will sit a written exam, consisting of 2 open questions and 10 multiple choice questions, to be completed in 75’.
NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
Non-attending students are expected to read and study the texts in the “Reading list for non-attending students” published on Blackboard.
They will sit a written exam, consisting of 2 open questions and 10 multiple choice questions, to be completed in 75’.
Teaching materials
ATTENDING STUDENTS
The list of papers and judgments to be discussed in class will be provided at the beginning of the course.
NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
Gerards, Janneke, General Principles of the European Convention on Human Rights (Cambridge University Press, last ed.)
Spaventa, Eleanor, ‘Fundamental Rights in the European Union’, in European Union Law, edited by S. Peers and C. Barnard (Oxford University Press, last ed.)
Further materials will be indicated in the Syllabus.
Last change 22/07/2025 12:13