Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza

The Civic Engagement, Rights and Remedies course is the cornerstone of a Jean Monnet Chair funded by the European Union in the context of the Jean Monnet Actions 2023. 

The 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 civic engagement mechanisms available to groups and individuals in the European Union, including  judicial and non-judicial remedies. 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 learning-by-doing teaching and learning methodologies.  

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 the contribution which citizens, associations and other organised social entities across the European Union can provide to the political and legal development of the European integration process. This is done 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 civic engagement and protection of rights in the EU and of the procedures and methodologies characterising 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 pending judicial cases, ongoing decision-making procedures and inter-institutional dynamics, to take position and comprehend 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 

The course focuses on the following topics:

Introductory elements

- Civic engagement: notion, evolution, methodologies

- The EU decision-making process and the role of civil society

- The European system for the protection of fundamental rights: recap 

Non-judicial remedies

- The right to petition the European Parliament

- The European citizens' initiative

- Individuals and society at the face of EU legislative procedures: the 'have your say' platform and the Commission's public consultations

- Campaigning and lobbying in the EU: rules and models

- The right to have access to EU documents

- The review mechanisms whithin EU Agencies (selected issues)

- The EU Ombudsman

Judicial remedies - Selected issues

- The preliminary reference procedure

- The infringement action and the preliminary administrative phases

- The action for annullment

- The action for EU liability  

- The non-contractual liability of EU Member States for violations of EU law 

The teaching methodologies consist of a combination of:

- traditional frontal lessons

- individual and collective analyses of topical events/facts/situations in light of legal texts and case law

- webinars ands seminars involving high-profile academics, experts and practitioners on lawyering, campaigning and lobying methodologies and experiences

- preparation and in-class (discussion of) individual and collective exercises aimed to provide tangible output (eg. drafting a Petition to the European Parliament; drafting dissemination Wikipedia items; contributing to a Commission's public consultation; drafting a legal campaign sample project)

- small role games - such as simple moot court exercises and other simulations or scenario-driven analyses - focussing on debated technical issues concerning specific judicial and non-judicial remedies 

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 and timely information on the specific schedule 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.

A sample final test is made available on Moodle and a simulation is held on the occasion of one of the final classes of the course.

NB: please note that, based on the number of students and on the availability of real cases to work on (see above the reference to collective exercises aimed to provide tangible output), individual and collective assignments could be part of the final evaluation and exempt students from 2 questions on the occasion of the final written exam. The actual availability of this option will be discussed in detail in class at the beginning of the course and students will be provided with timely, complete and consistent information.

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 for the first two parts of the course, 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.