Student guide Faculty of Law A.Y. 2010/11

Criminal Law and Criminal Law for Business
Lesson timetable, Notice board, Additional material
Aim of the course
The course  is divided into two parts:
- 1st semester: Criminal law
- 2nd semester: Criminal Economics Law
CRIMINAL LAW
The institutional presentation of criminal procedural law will be illustrated by means of systematic analysis of the most significant institutions, from the notitia criminis to the formation of the judgment and the subsequent criminal enforcement stage.
The contents of the lectures will always include the most significant parts of all legislation relating to criminal procedure, including the law relating to the criminal jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace; students will also be periodically informed of the decisions of the Constitutional Court, new legislative provisions, the most important judgments of the Combined Sections of the Court of Cassation and, if appropriate, the relevant judgments of the courts ruling on the merits.
CRIMINAL ECONOMICS LAW
The primary aim of the Criminal Economics Law course is to teach students to interpret the definition of an offence correctly, and to apply to it the fundamental concepts learned in the Criminal Law course (general, 3rd year). This aim, traditionally reserved for the Criminal Law II or Criminal Law – Special Section courses, will be pursued here by focusing on the study of crimes directly or indirectly affecting “the economy”.
The first part of the syllabus will therefore study the method used by lawyers to construe the legislative definition of a criminal offence and apply it to each case that arises.
The second part of the syllabus will study general concepts which help students understand the whole subject of Criminal Economics Law.
Various groups of legislative provisions will then be studied, relating in particular to criminal bankruptcy law, criminal company law, responsibility for crimes committed by organisations, criminal banking law and criminal stock market law.
Syllabus
CRIMINAL LAW
The course will consist of traditional lectures focusing on the following subjects:

1. Sources of criminal procedural law.
2. Criminal procedural law in time and space.
3. The legal system
4. Parties.
5. Acts.
6. The evidence system.
7. Interlocutory measures.
8. Preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecutor and defence lawyers, and the preliminary hearing.
9. Special procedures.
10. The judgment of first instance before the full bench or single-judge court, and before the Justice of the Peace.
11. The system of ordinary and extraordinary appeals.
12. The judgment, and its efficacy inside and outside the criminal trial.
13. Criminal enforcement.
CRIMINAL ECONOMICS LAW
1.   Interpretation of criminal legislation.
2.   Criminal Economics Law
    2.1 The shifting boundaries of the subject.
    2.2 The various generations of legislation.
    2.3 Protected legal property.
    2.4 Omissions, and the problem of guarantee positions.
    2.5 Active parties (delegation of duties, liability of legal persons).
 3.   Criminal liability of companies (Legislative Decree no. 231 of 8 June 2001).
 4.   Bankruptcy offences.
 5.   Corporate crimes (Legislative Decree no. 61 of  11 April 2002).
 6.   Protection of the financial market against criminal offences.
    6.1 Businesses and the market.
 Attendance at lectures is strongly recommended.

Supplementary work
Students intending to switch from the first- and second-level courses to the long-cycle (five-year) course who have already taken both parts of the exam will be required to attend a specifically organised seminar to obtain the additional credit needed. The seminar timetable will be announced at the beginning of the year.
Examinations
CRIMINAL LAW
An oral exam will be held at the end of the course. No intermediate tests will be set.
 
CRIMINAL ECONOMICS LAW
An oral exam will be held at the end of the course.
Reading list
CRIMINAL LAW
Students may use either of the following textbooks to revise for the exam:
Lozzi G., Lezioni di procedura penale, Giappichelli, Turin, latest available edition.
Tonini, P., Manuale di procedura penale, Giuffrè, Milan, latest available edition.
CRIMINAL ECONOMICS LAW
Pedrazzi, C., Alessandri, A., Seminara, S., Foffani, L., Spagnolo, G., Manuale di diritto penale dell’impresa, Monduzzi, Bologna, Manuale di diritto penale dell’impresa – Edizione ridotta – Parte generale e Reati fallimentari, Monduzzi, Bologna 2003
Zannotti R., Il nuovo diritto penale dell’economia, Giuffré, Milan 2006, Part I; Part II, chapters I, II, III, V and VI;  Part III (pp. 1 to 194; 253 to 310; 337 to the end of the book).
Students are also expected to be familiar with the following judgments, available from the Faculty secretarial office:
 1) Cass. SS.UU., 26 March 2003, no. 25.887, in Cass. Pen. 2003, pp. 3310 onwards.
 2) Cass., sez. V, 19 October 2000 - 10 January 2001, no. 191, in Dir. & Giust. no. 2/3 of 17 January 2001.
 Further reading will be suggested during the course.
Students should pay particular attention to amendments to the legislation, which are always possible in this subject, and will be expected to demonstrate their familiarity with the updated text of the legislation at the exam.  The lecturers and their assistants will provide information to exam candidates on request.