ECCLESIASTIC LAW
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
The knowledge offered by the private law and, above all, constitutional law courses in the first year is useful. The interdisciplinary nature of ecclesiastical law will make it necessary to anticipate some content that will then be adequately deepened in subsequent courses.
The course can be well taken in conjunction with the Canon Law and Comparative Law of Religions course, of which it is a complement.
Students will be able to choose between two ways of verifying their learning: 1. in-depth essay on a topic addressed in the course on the basis of the documentation provided by the teacher; 2. Discussion on the topics addressed in the course on the basis of Enrico Vitali - Antonio G. Chizzoniti, Manuale breve di diritto ecclesiastico, Giappichelli, Turin, latest edition.
Students attending Ecclesiastical Law as a supplementary examination (having chosen Canon Law as a compulsory examination) will agree a reduced syllabus with the teacher.
Non-attending students will agree the examination programme with the teacher.
The course aims to provide students with a knowledge of Italian law on religious freedom. In contemporary globalised societies where religious identities and rights play a relevant role also for the purposes of social cohesion, the analysis of state rights (starting from Italian law) in religious matters appears crucial for the full understanding of both the issues related to the application of fundamental rights and socio-political dynamics. Knowledge of the norms of ecclesiastical law will then be flanked by the study of their concrete application, thus inviting students to become familiar with concrete cases that will allow them to test the metabolisation of the contents learnt. Class discussion around court cases and specific issues will then allow students to develop argumentative skills to justify their positions.
These modes allow the application of the Dublin descriptors and in particular: 1. knowledge and understanding; 2. applying knowledge and understanding and 3. making judgments and 4. communication
In the academic year 2020-2021 the course will address the following topics:
- Religious freedom and legal pluralism: from nation states to international law;
- The European right to religious freedom;
- The historical development of the Italian model of religious freedom and the constitutional model: “religiosity” and “confessionality”; individual and collective profiles;
- The sphere of “religiosity”: Articles 19-20 Const.;
- “Confessionality”: Articles 7-8 Const.
- Religious confessions, religious associations, "admitted cults": the pyramid of cults
- The art. 7 of the Constitution and the concordat. The concordatarian system
- The art. 8, 3 of the Constitution. The “intese”: procedure and contents
- The art. 8, 1 of the Constitution. The “final” norm of equal liberty;
- The supreme principle of laicity of the State
- Monographic themes:
- The places of worship;
- The financing of the right to religious freedom
- The religious teaching in public/state schools
- Civilly recognized religious marriages
- The 'Islamic question'
In A.Y. 22-23, the course will be held "in presence". The topics will be introduced through a general framework provided by the lecturer and will be accompanied by in-class exercises that will stimulate co-working techniques. Students will then be invited to approach jurisprudential 'sources', progressively becoming familiar with the reading and analysis of judgments from different jurisdictions. Active participation in class will be encouraged.
Seminars and meetings with experts on specific topics will also be organised.
The teacher receives students in the Manica Lunga room on Wednesdays from 9 to 10 a.m. and is always available at: alessandro.ferrari@uninsubria.it
A study trip to Morocco to participate in a United Nation Context will be organised for March 2023. The trip will be particularly useful not only to experience some of the working methods of the United Nations but also to compare what has been learnt in the course with the contemporary reality of a Muslim-majority country with an important history. Participation in the project will be assessed with additional credits decided by the Department Council.