law

ALESSANDRA DI MARTINO

In-depth comprehension of themes and roots of comparative constitutional law; studying of comparative law in the books and comparative law in action; learning of adequate critical instruments in order to communicate acquired knowledge in written and oral form and to put in context comparative issues in future working life.

Gaining an in-depth understanding of the themes and origins of comparative constitutional law; learning to apply critical thinking to communicate acquired knowledge in writing and verbally, and to contextualise comparative issues in future professional life.

Exam of Institutions of Public Law.
Knowledge of constitutional history and foreign languages may help.

The course explores some of the key themes of comparative public law and is divided into three sections.
The first part addresses key approaches to comparative methodology, paying particular attention to comparison in constitutional law. The approach focusing on constitutional cultures will be emphasised. Legal traditions will be contextualised from a non-ethnocentric perspective, focusing on mutual communication between traditions. This section of the course will also examine the historical and comparative meaning of the doctrine of constitutionalism, highlighting the key issues surrounding the use of this concept in the context of globalisation and deglobalisation processes within Western and non-Western political and cultural spheres.
The second part of the lectures will investigate constitution-making and forms of government and their relationship with constitutional justice. A comparative constitutional history perspective will be emphasised throughout. Regarding forms of government, the complex issue of classification will be considered, as well as the concrete structures and individual institutions that inform the relationships between constitutional powers and bodies. A specific investigation will focus on the constitutional systems of the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Germany, as well as the 'laboratory' of the Weimar Republic. Students will be invited to present specific insights on recent issues affecting the stability of democratic and governmental structures in polarised political systems, with a particular focus on Brexit, the Trump presidency, the evolution of French semi-presidentialism, Germany's so-called 'militant democracy', and illiberal democracies in Hungary and Poland.
The third part of the course will examine issues relating to the protection of fundamental rights through a historical approach to constitutional comparison. The concepts of rights throughout the modern age and the liberal and democratic experiences, as well as the main underlying dilemmas, will be analysed. Particular attention will be given to the protection of fundamental rights in pluralist democratic systems, with a focus on the evolution of the concept of the rule of law, the relationship between freedom and equality, and the multidimensionality of rights. Balances and trade-offs will be highlighted, with particular regard to the specificities of different constitutional cultures. Further in-depth studies chosen by the students will focus on environmental protection, particularly climate litigation, freedom of expression online, content moderation and issues concerning women's freedom.

If the student chooses texts in a language other than Italian, they may study one of the following:

M. Rosenfeld, A. Sajo, The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law, OUP, 2013; M. Tushnet, T. Fleiner, Routledge Handbook of Constitutional Law, Routledge, 2013; T. Ginsburg, R. Dixon, Comparative Constitutional Law, Elgar, 2013; N. Dorsen et. al. (eds.), Comparative Constitutionalism. Cases and Materials, West, 2016; R. Masterman, R. Schütze, The Cambridge Companion to Comparative Constitutional Law, CUP, 2019; S. Choudhry, M. Hailbronner, M. Kumm (eds.), Global Canons in an Age of Contestation, Cambridge, CUP, 2024; B. Ackerman, Revolutionary Constitutions. Charismatic Leadership and the Rule of Law, Belknap, 2019; M.C. Ponthoreau, Droit(s) constitutionnel(s) comparé(s), 2. ed. Economica, 2021; P. Lauvaux, A. Le Divellec, Les grandes démocraties contemporaines, 4a ed., PUF, 2015; A. Weber, Europäische Verfassungsvergleichung, Beck, 2010; P. Häberle, Europäische Verfassungslehre, 8a ed., Nomos, 2016.

Traditional lecture and interaction with students; some lectures dedicated to students' presentations on single issues; on-line support for further teaching material

In presence

Final oral examination; intermediate written pre-examination for students who attend the course. The aim of the exam is to assess students' study and reasoning skills and to compare different constitutional cultures. The intermediate examination accounts for 50 to 75% of the final examination assessment. Possibility of giving a PowerPoint presentation during the course.

Use of foreign precedents by courts; constitutional cultures; constitutionalism(s); constitutional transplants and borrowings; forms of government and related differences; generations of rights; multidimensionality of rights; balancing

• Comparative Methods
  • Books: Lecture Notes Di Martino; Sperti; or Text of choice in a foreign language from the programme


• Constitutionalism
  • Books: Ridola, Costituzionalismo; Circolazione dei modelli costituzionali; or Text of choice in a foreign language from the programme.


• Forms of government - introduction
  • Books: Volpi, Introduzione; or Text of choice in a foreign language from the programme.


• Rights and Comparative Law
  • Books: Ridola, Principio libertà; or ext of choice in a foreign language from the programme


• Further insights into topics related to forms of government and rights.
  • Books: Chosen material on the e-learning platform