Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza

Module I of the course unit provides a basic understanding of the foundations of constitutional law in national, comparative, supranational and international perspective. The course unit starts with the presentation of the concept of constitution in the Western legal, political and philosophical tradition. In doing so, it addresses its main features, like division of powers, forms of government, federalism, fundamental rights, electoral systems, and constitutional adjudication. In a second step it expands the analysis to non-Western constitutional patterns, such as Islamic constitutions and one-party constitutions. Thereby, it explores particularities, main elements and conflicts that might arise in constitutional law from a comparative perspective. Finally, it focuses on the most advanced frontier of constitutional law, namely on the development of constitutionalism beyond the borders of the nation state. In particular, it concentrates on the question as to whether the establishment of new continental or even global forms of legal and institutional integration is destined to change the traditional concept of constitution. 

Module II covers the rest of the course unit and provides some deepening of the general contents examined in the first part. It focuses on the different features of the concept of legal (and constitutional) principle and explores the developments of the theory and practice of principles both in the context of Western civil law/common law systems and in the experiences of “new

constitutionalism”.

After attending this course unit, the students are expected: 

• to have a good knowledge of the main contents of the course unit; 
• to have developed a keen awareness of the existence of different constitutional traditions and of their most specific characteristics; 
• to have a sufficient understanding of the most advanced frontiers of constitutionalism, also within the post-national constellation; 
• to be able to compare different constitutional texts, traditions and systems, taking into special account how they develop specific issues, concepts, principles and standards. 

The course unit in “Principles of Constitutional Law” is made up of two distinct Modules, the first taught by Professor Sergio Dellavalle, the second by Professor Riccardo Perona. 

Module I covers the first half of the course unit. It provides a basic understanding of the foundations of constitutional law, in particular with reference to its main contents both in Western and in some non-Western legal and historical traditions. It also addresses the question of the constitutional dimension of EU law as well as of cosmopolitan law, thus contouring the most challenging new developments of constitutionalism beyond the borders of the nation state. 

Module II covers the rest of the course unit and provides some deepening and further developments of the general contents examined in the first part, concentrating on the different features of the concept of legal (and constitutional) principle and exploring its connection with the standard of legal reasonableness. 

A final exam will be held to evaluate both Modules. 

 

Module I 

The contents of the concept of constitution. 

The Western constitutional tradition: autocracy vs. democracy. 

The division of powers as the first means for the limitation and control of public power. 

The main forms of government: parliamentary system, presidential system, and semi-presidential system. 

Federalism (and regionalism) as the second means for the limitation and control of public power. 

The taxonomy of fundamental rights: civil, political and social rights; individual and collective rights; first, second and third generation rights. The rights of non-human beings. 

Electoral systems: plurality system; majoritarian system; proportional system. 

The nation as the community of citizens vs. the nation as expression of ethnicity. 

Systems of constitutional adjudication; competences of constitutional courts. 

Non-Western constitutional traditions: East-Asian constitutions; Islamic Constitutions; One-Party Constitutions. 

Postnational constitutionalism: supranational organizations; global governance; cosmopolitan constitutionalism; global economic constitutions. 

 

Module II 

The concept of legal principle and its relevance in the legal and constitutional theory. The doctrine of principles and the debate concerning the specificity of constitutional interpretation in the context of the U.S. common law and European civil law.

The practice of principles in constitutional adjudication. The standard of reasonableness and its relation with equality and proportionality. Basic developments of the reasonableness control in the common law and civil law traditions.

Developments of the “principles theory” and the emergence of the “new constitutionalism” in Latin America and the “Global South”. The protection of minorities and the issues of environmental justice.

New challenges of contemporary constitutionalism vis-à-vis the growing impact of new technologies.

Along with more traditional lectures, the course encourages the interaction among the students as well as between the students and the lecturers. 

A written will be held to evaluate both modules. 

The exam will be held using an online form (created with Google Forms). 

On the officially scheduled day (“Appello”), students will be required to attend the exam in presence at the University with their personal computer. The link to access the online form will be shared at the beginning of the session and the students will have one hour to submit their answers. 

Students will be able to access the form only by using their institutional UniTo email account (@edu.unito.it). The form will contain seventeen (17) true-false/multiple-choice questions, as well as two (2) essay questions, concerning all the contents and materials of Module I and Module II. Each essay question will have a size limit of 2500 characters words. 

After answering the questions, the student will have to click on "submit" ("invia") to complete the exam. Any submission after the deadline will not be considered. Students will be able to submit their answers just one time, so answers should be chosen carefully before submission. 

 

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

Students facing special learning disorders are kindly encouraged to contact the professor to disclose any hurdles they face with the study materials and the course activities. This is crucial to ensure that all students can have full and easy access to the learning opportunities offered during the course. 

Please check the relevant webpage of 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

Module I: 

1. a PDF file, entitled “Dellavalle - Principles of Constitutional Law - Module I”, with the contents of Module I; 

1. a PowerPoint presentation, entitled “Dellavalle - Principles of Constitutional Law - Module I -; Slides”, containing slides with the main contents of Module I that will be used during the lectures; 

1. nine (9) PowerPoint presentations with audio, entitled “Dellavalle - Principles of Constitutional Law - Module I - Part I [to Part IX] - Slides + Audio”, which integrate the slides above mentioned under 2) with the content of the PDF file above mentioned under 1). 

Module II: 

1. a set of nine (9) scientific articles covering the essential issues addressed in the Module; 

1. a set of reading guides designed to help the student focus on the key aspects of the most complex articles; students are also strongly encouraged to attend the lectures, that will provide the conceptual tools necessary to fully understand the articles and their connections. 

 All teaching materials can be downloaded either from Campusnet or from Moodle. 

The course unit on Principles of Constitutional Law (PCL) can be combined with the course unit on the Paradigm of National and International Order (PNIO). This second course unit, which takes place on Thursday and Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m., is originally conceived as part of the programme of the Master course in European Legal Studies. As a result, Bachelor’s Students cannot insert it into their curriculum. Nonetheless, it is possible to sign up for it and enjoy a highly valuable integration of knowledge in the fields of constitutional and international law, as well as in legal theory and philosophy. If the requirements of the PNIO course unit are successfully met, the following benefits for your curriculum can be acquired:a)

a) The second Module of the PCL course unit is replaced by the PNIO course unit, which means that the PCL exam will only be on Module I.

b) Students can increase the mark of their written PCL exam by up to four points, depending on the evaluation received for the PNIO course unit. 

c) For the participation in the PNIO course unit, students can receive additional three credits as “Altre attività”.

For more information on the PNIO course unit, please read the Syllabus carefully, which can be downloaded from the course unit's website on either Campusnet or Moodle and sign up for the course. 25 places are available, according to the principle “first come, first served”.