Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza

The Criminal and Civil Procedural Law of the EU course is framed within the general objective of the Master Programme in European Legal Studies to provide the students with an advanced cultural and technical training on and knowledge of legal phenomena on the European and international stages. In particular, the course aims at equipping the students with an in-depth knowledge of the legal regime of the system of judicial cooperation in the EU Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. This is an increasingly important subject of EU law studies and a strategic added value for the students’ professional future.

In this context, the course is closely connected to other initiatives and learning opportunities offered by the Law Department and the Master Programme, such as the Moot Courts project, the clinical programme and several complementary courses focused on a learning-by-doing teaching and learning methodology.  

Lastly, this course builds on the dynamic approach to the acquisition of formal knowledge which characterizes the Master Programme as a whole. Therefore, the course aims at providing the students with the tools which are necessary to understand and critically analyze judicial cooperation mechanisms across the European Union, even through the combination of both a theoretical approach and the practice-oriented analysis of cases. 

At the end of the course, the student should achieve the following learning objectives:

Knowledge and comprehension

- In-depth knowledge of the main mechanisms of judicial cooperation in the EU and of the general principles governing them

- Ability to analyse and understand relevant legal texts (EU acts, case law, etc.)

- Awareness of the remarkable implications of EU law in every person's situation and for the student's future professional activity

Ability to apply knowledge and comprehension 

- Ability to handle a complex reasoning on EU legal texts

- Ability to apply the rules and principles of EU law to a given situation and to catch their implications

- Ability to apply the rulea and principles of EU law to oending judicial cases, ongoing decision-making procedures and inter-institutional dynamics, to take position and coprehend their effects and implications

Autonomous intellectual approach and critical thinking

- Ability to organise the knowledge acquired and to weight its importance and relevance

- Ability to understand and to personally discuss topical issues through the lenses of EU law, both in the context of a debate and in the framework of scheduled exercises

- Ability to explain the knowledge acquired, by using an appropriate legal terminology 

In sum, the course deals with the following topics:

Part 1 - Introduction to judicial cooperation

- Models of legal assistance and judicial cooperation

- Judicial cooperation in the framework of the development of the EU integration process

- The institutional setting and the general principles governing judicial cooperation in the European Union

- The relevant EU legal sources and their effects

- The specific features of judicial cooperation in the EU, especially compared to traditional instruments such as extradition and mutual legal assistance  

Part 2: Judicial cooperation in criminal matters 

- The European Arrest Warrant (Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA)

- The transfer of prisoners in the EU and EU extradition law (Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA)

- The transfers of "probationers" (Framework Decision 2008/947/JHA) and persons awaiting trial (Framework Decision 2009/829/JHA)

- The Directives on procedural rights in criminal matters (selected issues)

- EU substantive criminal law

- The European Public Prosecutor's Office (selected issues)

- The ne bis in idem principle and the coordination of criminal jurisdictions, including the regulation on the transfer of criminal proceedings among the Member States

Part 3: Judicial cooperation in civil matters

This part of the course will be limited to selected issues concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments, authentic instruments and court agreements in civil and commercial matters.

The teaching methodologies consist of a combination of:

- traditional frontal lessons

- in class analyses of legal texts and case law on selected topical issues, on the basis of syllabus and case law collections made available on Moodle

- in class exercises, such as debating topical issues/case law, approaching the practical solution to a fictitious case through small role games and participatory methodologies

- webinars involving high-profile academics, experts and practitioners on particularly important and topical issues

PLEASE NOTE that this teaching approach requires the students' timely registration to the course on the CampusNet webpage as well as to the relevant Moodle e-learning page. The sooner the students register, the easier it is to deliver adequate an timely information on the specific scheule and features of each lesson.   

The final evaluation is based on a written exam consisting of 4 open questions, as follows:

- 1 theoretical question

- 1 request to take position on a given statement and to support the position by means of approproate legal arguments

- 1 analysis of an excerpt from a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union or a provision of EU law

- 1 discussion and solution of a case.

The exam lasts 1 hour and 30 minutes and is taken on paper.

For the purposes of the final evaluation, the following criteria are considered:

- formal accuracy (including grammar)

- completeness of the answers

- selection of relevant arguments

- presentation of arguments (including use of an appropriate legal terminology)

- autonomous organization and elaboration of the answer

- use of relevant authority in support of arguments (CJEU case law, etc.)

"Incorrect" solutions to the case will not automatically lead to a negative evaluation, as long as the answer will be construed on a coherent reasoning, consistent with the underlying theoretical background and adequately motivated.

No specific tutoring activity is planned.

The Moodle e-learning page of the course is a key-instrument. Students are expected to enrol to the Moodle page and to check it on a regular basis.

In particular, the Moodle e-learning page hosts:

- all specific information concerning the weekly activities of the course

- the compulsory study materials, listed in clear and accessible collections and syllabuses 

- all the presentations displayed during the lectures

- video and/or video lectures

- the case law analysed during the course 

- optional learning materials

- ancillary contents (videos, links to websites, etc.)

- sample questions and short self-evaluation tests. 

Students facing special learning disorders are kindly encouraged to contact the professor, to disclose their possible difficulties in approaching the course and the related activities. This is crucial to secure that all students can have full and easy access to the learning opportunities offered during the course. 

Please check the relevant webpage o the Law Department website, which outlines the available institutional support and tools: https://www.giurisprudenza.unito.it/do/home.pl/View?doc=/Studiare/dsa.html