The course of environmental law is divided into 2 parts. The first one
aims to provide students the basic legal instruments to the
understanding of environmental law. In addition to the analysis of
national environmental legislation are also provided elements of
international law and European Union law. In the second part of the
course each student is assigned an environmental sector legislation on
which to develop a research paper to comment in class.
Attending students will take the exam on the notes taken from the lessons and on any material indicated by the professors at the beginning of the course.
For non-attending students the textbook is Paolo Dell'Anno, Diritto dell’ambiente, 2022 and as supplementary material about recent Italian constitutional reform it's necessary to study the paper by Giacomo Vivoli, La modifica degli artt. 9 e 41 della Costituzione: una svolta storica per l'ambiente o "molto rumore per nulla"?; the paper can be found online in free version on the website of the journal "Queste istituzioni", n.1, 2022.
Learning Objectives
Knowledge. The course aims at providing students basic knowledge for
the interpretation and application of environmental law. During the first
part of the exam the professor will give students basic methodological
hints to understand the functioning of environmental law at an
international, European, and national level.
Capabilities. The course will stimulate students’ capability to orientate
into the labyrinth of environmental legislation giving them a brief
research paper over a specific topic to prepare and discuss in class
during the second part of the course
Prerequisites
All students are required to have passed the exam of public law.
Teaching Methods
The first part of the course will take place in a classical frontal mode,
while the second in a seminar form with the active involvement of each
student.
Students are constantly encouraged to express their opinions and to
compare what they already know with the new knowledge acquired
through the course.
Professors use the Moodle platform to organize the course, communicate and
exchange materials (slides, doctrinal texts, sentences, laws, etc.) with the students
Type of Assessment
Attending students: Oral exam consists of two or three questions. Student evaluation will take into account also the presentation of the personal paper.
Non-attending students: Oral exam consists of two or three questions.
The first question is of a general nature, in order to allow the student to demonstrate not only the knowledge acquired but also the ability to make connections between the various parts of the program.
The second one has a more precise nature and concerns a specific topic of environmental law.
The third question is asked at the discretion of the professor when it emerges still a profile of uncertainty on the assessment to be assigned, e.g. example due to the significant gap between the evaluation of the two questions already asked.
The evaluation will be positive if all the answers are sufficient and if, overall, no serious shortcomings or gross errors emerge.
The evaluation will be excellent if all the answers are exhaustive and demonstrative broad capacity in legal analysis and adequate linguistic skills.
Course program
First part:
- Introduction to the course; methodology.
- The environmental regulation: incentives and sanctions.
- International environmental law.
- European environmental law and policy.
- Principle of subsidiarity and the division of competences between
EU and states.
- Role of the ECJ.
- Italian Constitution and the environmental protection.
- Environmental issues before the Italian Constitutional Court.
- Division of competences between the Italian State and Regions.
- Constitutional reform of 2001.
- Italian Environmental Code
- Constitutional reform of 2022
Second part:
- In this part each student will prepare a brief paper analysing a specific
field of environmental law (e.g.: waste, parks, water, air pollution, civil
liability, precautionary principle, etc.).