Comparative criminal procedure

Knowledge and understanding
The course consists of lectures and seminars. Students are presented with cases and materials and could be required to write short papers on specific topics. Such an approach is aimed at verifying which systems best fulfil the goals juvenile justice highlighted by basic principles, guidelines and Recommendations issued at the supra-national level and is clearly intended to assess how far Europe is from adopting a comprehensive and homogeneous approach to the problem of dealing with juvenile offenders.
Applying knowledge and understanding
The course is aimed both at providing students with a knowledge of the main key-issues related to criminal proceedings against juvenile offenders and at allowing them to acquire the “tools” needed to compare the features of different national juvenile justice system, different patterns of responses to the “youth justice problem”, different philosophical underpinnings, institutional arrangements, operational policies and processes involving young offenders.
Making judgements
Students will be able to identify strenghts and weaknesses of each juridical system, analysed during the course, in matter of juvenile justice. Moreover, through the analysis of cases and materials, they will be able to recognise any specific disposition related to criminal proceedings which involve juvaniles charged with crimes.
Communication skills
Some of the assignments of the course, such as writing or reading of papers on specific topics, will develop the communicative skills of students, inciting open discussions and dialogues. Students will also be able to discuss about juvenile justice using proper terms and the lexicon.
Learning skills
During the course, students will be able to look at the juvenile justice in ‘comparative’ perspective. They will also learn how to read basic principles, guidelines and Reccomandations, mainly issued by the European Union (EU) and by the European Court of Human Rights (HCHR), and how the supra-national level produces its effects on each juridical system analysed.