CRIMINAL LAW - 65040

The course is designed to provide students with an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles and core institutions of the General Part of Criminal Law. This objective is pursued through the study of the legislative framework, academic scholarship, and case law, as well as the interpretative arguments underlying the application of criminal law provisions. Particular attention is also devoted to the historical and philosophical development of criminal law and to the principal theoretical models of legal reasoning, especially the dogmatic approach characteristic of the Continental legal tradition, compared with the case law-based methodology of the common law tradition.

The course adopts a case-based teaching methodology, with constant reference to practical legal issues arising in contemporary judicial practice. Its purpose is to equip students with the analytical and methodological skills required for the legal professions to which the degree programme is directed.

The argumentative approach of the course is intended to foster students' critical thinking and to enable them to resolve interpretative controversies independently, applying legal reasoning that is both methodologically sound and consistent with the legal system, particularly with its constitutional principles and fundamental guarantees.

By the end of the course, students will have acquired a systematic understanding of the distinctive features of criminal law, with particular emphasis on the guarantee function of its fundamental principles and on the core categories of the General Theory of Crime. They will also have developed an awareness of the importance of critically analysing and thoroughly understanding the principal doctrines and institutions of substantive criminal law.