Course 2014-2015 a.y.

Course Objectives

The main purpose of this course is to introduce students to the principles of Comparative Constitutional Law.

Course Content Summary

• General Introduction: obstacles to be overcome when studying the legal system of one country in the language of another, legal translating techniques, drafting and methods of classification used in the analysis of Comparative Constitutional Law.
• Sources of law: Constitutions, Constitutional statutes, ordinary statutes, law decrees, legislative decrees and delegated legislation. Constitutional amendment.
• Forms of State and Forms of Government. Electoral laws.
• Federalism, Regionalism and Devolution in a comparative context. Functional and structural asymmetry with particular reference to special and ordinary regions in Italy, the regional system adopted in Spain and the devolution process in the United Kingdom.
• The Legal system of the European Union: System of Legal sources and the relationship between European law and domestic legislation; the Institutional structure; the evolution of the case law of the ECJ and domestic courts. The relationship between the European and sub-national entities. Towards a European Constitution.
• Constitutional and Supreme Courts: composition, role and functions. The fundamental aspects of American and European models of constitutional review. Classification of Court judgments and analysis of decision-making techniques.
• Political, economic and civil rights and related safeguards in a comparative context.

 Special Part that may be decided at the beginning of the course.

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

• Those attending lectures sit a final written exam at the end of the course semester. The written exam consists of 40 multiple choice questions and 1 short essay.
• Please note that there is only one written final exam every academic year at the end of the course semester; students have to sit oral exams in all other sessions.

Textbooks

• Articles, cases and other material that will be made available by the instructors at the beginning of the course also through the use of the weblearning space.
• Exam textbooks and online articles (check availability at the Library).