Criminal Law and criminal law for minors

The Criminal Law and Criminal Juvenile Law course aims to provide essential knowledge of the criminal justice system, particularly with regard to fundamental principles, the structure of crimes, penalties, and the specific rules governing the criminal proceedings of minors.

Based on the Dublin Descriptors, students should achieve the following outcomes:

1. Knowledge and understanding. Students must demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles and institutions of criminal law, in their historical and contextual context, as well as the characteristics of criminal proceedings involving juvenile defendants.

2. Applied knowledge and understanding. By the end of the course, students should be able to use the skills acquired to critically interpret current legislation and navigate different interpretations of legal data.

3. Independent judgment. By the end of the course, students should be able to develop critical thinking on the criminal justice system in general and on the specifics of juvenile proceedings.

4. Communication skills. By the end of the course, students should possess the skills necessary to convey their knowledge and opinions on the general aspects of criminal law and the proceedings against juvenile offenders, demonstrating the ability to participate in public debate with awareness and to operate within the regulatory parameters studied.

5. Learning ability. By the end of the course, students should possess the skills and competencies needed to continue learning independently, including the ability to identify texts and sources relating to criminal law and juvenile criminal law and to develop in-depth understanding of the topics covered.

Frontal lessons.

General part of penal law. Penal system and fundamental principles. History of penal law and penal culture. Penal legislation and the principle of legality. Crime structure. The manifestation forms of crime. The author and the victim of crime. The juridical consequences of crimes: penal sanctions. Criminal system concerning minors. Minors who commit crimes: imputability; sanctions, with particular regard to substitutive sanctions and judicial forgiveness. Criminal process concerning minors: preliminary inquiries and precautionary measures; the judgement (above all, probation and irrilevant facts). Penitentiary system for minors. Mediation and restorative justice. The Cartabia reform. The so-called Caivano decree.

S. Aleo – E. Lanza, Il sistema penale, Giuffrè, Milano, 2016, pp. 1-258.

A. Mangione e A. Pulvirenti (editors), La giustizia penale minorile: formazione, devianza, diritto e processo, III ed. Giuffrè Francis Lefebvre, Milano, 2020, pp. 161-181, 194-211, 221-226, 463-563, 645-715.

Optional:
A. Mangione e A. Pulvirenti (editors), La giustizia penale minorile: formazione, devianza, diritto e processo, III ed. Giuffrè Francis Lefebvre, Milano, 2020, pp. 127-150.

The use of an updated criminal code is recommended.

During the lecture cycle, additional material will be made available via the Studium platform, especially concerning the most recent legislative innovations.

To pass the exam, students must demonstrate, using appropriate language, knowledge of the main characteristics of the institutions covered. Particular attention must be paid to the fundamental principles of Italian criminal system, with particular reference to the principle of legality and its corollaries (reserve of law, prohibition of analogy, non-retroactivity and succession of criminal laws over time, specificity or sufficient specificity of the crime). Students in the Social Work program must also focus on the role of social workers in criminal proceedings, especially those involving juveniles (knowledge of the assessment of a minor's personality and juvenile probation is essential).

Deep knowledge of the various institutions, the ability to connect them, and the level of critical reasoning will all impact the grade.

To achieve honors, students must not only answer each question completely and comprehensively and demonstrate the ability to summarize and criticize, but also use fluent and accurate language, even technical one.

The principle of legality

The prohition of analogy in penal matters

The non-retroactivity of penal law

Causality between conduct and event

Differences between defence and state of necessity

Mens rea

Negligence

Dolus eventualis and conscious negligence

Attempted crime

Conditions for applying security measures

The investigations on minor's personality

Probation for minors

Irrelevance of crime

Judicial forgiveness

The arrest of a minor caught in the act of crime

Conditions for applying precautionary measures to minors

The precautionary measures for minors