Learning outcomes

The course will be entirely held in English. It is divided into 3 essential parts, which reflect the importance of the criminal law in its sovranational dimension.
1). The first part concerns the international criminal law and it is focused on the criminal liability for the commission of “International crimes” (war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, crime of aggression) with special attention to the crimes within the jurisdiction of the permanent International Criminal Court (ICC- Rome Statute of 1998) and to the case-law of the ad hoc Tribunals (Nuremberg, Tokyo, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
2). The second part regards the European Criminal Law after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2011 and it is focused on the explicit competences in penal matter of the European Union (Art. 83, 86, 325 TFEU).
3). The third part is dedicated to the protection of the fundamental rights as a limit and as the subject of the penal protection duties belonging to the national legislators (concerning for example the prohibition of torture and inhuman treaties); the relation between the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) case-law and the national and international jurisdictions, as well as the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

Program

The course is divided into 3 units:
1). The evolution of the international criminal law, from the International Criminal Tribunal of Nuremberg and Tokyo to the permanent International Criminal Court (ICC); the analysis of the ad hoc Tribunals (ICTY, ICTR) statutes and case-law concerning the international crimes with a special regard to the crimes within the jurisdiction of the permanent International Criminal Court (ICC: war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, crime of aggression); the special forms of criminal liability for these crimes committed in particular by military or politics leaders (such as the responsibility of commanders and other superiors ex art. 28 ICC, the responsibility of the members of for a joint criminal enterprise or an organized group, etc.)

2). National criminal law and European criminal law: the evolution and the process of „Europeanisation“ of the criminal law; the role of the European Court of Justice case-law; the Lisbon Treaty and the new penal explicit competences of the European Union in the fight against the transnational criminality (child pornography, smuggling of migrants, trafficking of human beings, cybercrime, terrorism, etc.); the protection of the European financial interests; the European Public Prosecutor.
3). Protection of the fundamental rights; the role of the Council of Europe and the purpose of the ECHR jurisprudence; the influence of the ECHR case-law on the ad hoc International Criminal Tribunals and International Criminal Court jurisprudence; relations between the ECHR case law and the national penal jurisdictions; the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union; profiles of legal comparison with some European States.

Examination Methods

The exam is in English with a preliminary written test based on the answer to three questions chosen by the candidate among several questions included in a questionnaire dealing with the main subjects of the course; the second part of the exam is oral. At the beginning of the oral exam, the students who have attended the course may discuss specific issues assigned by the professor, or developed during the lessons or the potential practice exercises.
Variations of the program can also be arranged with the professor for the study of specific topics of interest of the candidate.

Teaching materials

•   PROGRAMMA E TESTI CONSIGLIATI - English   (msword, it, 34 KB, 26/07/13)
•   PROGRAMMA E TESTI CONSIGLIATI - Italiano   (msword, it, 35 KB, 26/07/13)