SeC

Language:

Italian
Textbooks:

In order to reduce the gap between attending and non-attending students, this year the course will not distinguish between study materials useful for preparing for the exam.
All students will be able to use the transcriptions of the lessons, made available by the teacher on the course minisite. They will then be able to complete their preparation by choosing between a reading list - that is, a list of study and in-depth materials - indicated by the teacher during the lessons and the manual by A. Diddi, Manuale di diritto penitenziario, Pacini, in the latest edition available on the market.
For the general framework of the criminal procedure, students, regardless of attendance and as a necessary integration of the content of the lessons, will be able to use any of the manuals of Criminal Procedure Law available on the market. The teacher recommends A. Scalfati (ed.), Fisionomia della procedura criminale, Giappichelli, 2025, limited to pages 1-28, 43-78, 102-118, 167-178, 405-426 or, if published in time for the course, AA.VV., Diritto processuale penale. Principi, regole, prassi, Utet, 2025, limited to the parts on Diachronic Profiles, Internal and Supranational Fundamental Rights, and Operating Rules. The teacher will be responsible for indicating the reference pages exactly.
Students will also be required to obtain an up-to-date edition of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Penitentiary Law (Law no. 354 of July 26, 1975), either in any commercially available edition or by accessing the Normattiva service, which is freely accessible online or via app.
Learning objectives:

ACQUIRED KNOWLEDGE. At the end of the course, the student will have a solid foundation in the principles of criminal procedure and execution; he/she will know in detail the rules of the penitentiary system that govern the life of individuals deprived of personal liberty.
ACQUIRED SKILLS. At the end of the course, the student will be able to orient himself/herself among the constitutional principles that inspire criminal procedure and execution; he/she will be able to read a legal provision and place it in the framework of the sources. He/she will be able to grasp the interdisciplinary profiles of the penitentiary experience and will be able to use the acquired knowledge in the resolution of practical issues of moderate complexity.
Prerequisite:

Good reasoning skills and adequate understanding of written texts. Knowledge of the Constitution and its contents, as well as the concept and functions of punishment facilitate learning.
Teaching methods:

The teacher alternates frontal lessons and moments of greater student involvement. In frontal lessons, the teacher illustrates the contents of the program. During seminars and workshops, the analysis of legislative texts, jurisprudential rulings, doctrinal essays or procedural documents is proposed, obviously expunged of sensitive data and other information that would make the subjects involved recognizable. The purpose of seminars and workshops is to offer students the opportunity to apply the knowledge acquired in research and practice contexts, certainly useful to enhance the theoretical study.
Exam type:

The exam is written. Students, regardless of attendance, can choose between two methods.
1. Partial tests: the student is required to take: a) a test on the introductory part of the course (principles and structure of criminal proceedings), scheduled for the end of October 2025 - ten multiple-choice questions to be answered in 30 minutes, assessed with a suitability rating that can be achieved by totaling at least 6 correct answers. Failure to pass the test prevents the student from taking the remaining partial tests and requires the exam to be retaken in the official appeals in the manner described in point (2); b) a test on the part relating to the executive title, execution order and the first part of the penitentiary system, scheduled for the end of November 2025 - an open-ended question to be answered in 30 minutes, assessed with a score between 1 and 30, and valid for 50% of the final grade; c) a test on the remaining part of the program, to be taken in one of the official exam sessions by July 2026 - an open-ended question to be answered in 30 minutes, assessed with a score between 1 and 30, and valid for the remaining 50% of the final grade.
2. Single test: the student is required to take a single written test including: a) fifteen multiple-choice questions (30 minutes) on the introductory part of the course (principles and structure of criminal proceedings); b) a test on the rest of the program (two open-ended questions, both assessed with a score between 1 and 30: the total grade will be given by the arithmetic mean of the two scores - one hour). Failure to pass the first part (multiple choice - eligibility is achieved with 6 correct answers out of 10) will prevent the attribution of a sufficient final grade and will require the student to retake the exam.
In order to promote, as much as possible, a constant and non-episodic evaluation, students who take part in the workshops and seminars in a profitable way will benefit from an increase in the final evaluation of a maximum of 2 points. Of these additional points, one will be awarded to those who follow the conference on cognitive bias and criminal investigation, scheduled for January 2026, correctly carrying out a relational/in-depth activity whose contents will be illustrated by the teacher.
All tests are evaluated according to the following criteria: 1) Knowledge and understanding of the contents; 2) Ability to summarize and connect; 3) Knowledge, understanding and use of specific language.
Sostenibilità:
Further information:

The teacher is available to assist students in writing their thesis in Elements of Penitentiary Law. It is hereby specified that the thesis will be assigned only after passing the exam; if the number of requests is such that it cannot be fully accepted, preference will be given to students who have attended lessons and supplementary activities, and/or who have achieved the best results in the exam. Papers on current events or otherwise famous cases will not be assigned, unless they provide an opportunity to delve into issues of an eminently legal nature. The thesis must be sent to the professor chapter by chapter, and must be completed at least ten days before the deadline for uploading to the University IT system. Any other information on the matter is available on the professor's minisite.
The teacher receives students, in person and remotely, on the days and at the times indicated on the Department website and by appointment to be agreed by email (francesco.trapella@unich.it).

After an initial overview of the criminal procedure, its structure, its purposes and the sources that regulate it, the course aims to examine the discipline of the executive title and the execution order, and to analyse the events that concern someone who is subjected to a custodial sanction.

Introduction to criminal procedural law (10 hours) - The function of criminal proceedings and their principles (in particular: defense, presumption of innocence, fair trial, principle of procedural legality); the structure of the investigation: investigative phase, trial, execution; models (inquisitorial, accusatorial, mixed); the protagonists of the investigation (judge, public prosecutor, suspect, defendant, convicted); sources (Constitution, European sources, code of criminal procedure, special legislation, sub-legislative sources, practice, soft law).
Profiles of criminal enforcement law (10 hours) - The res judicata; the enforcement title; the enforcement order; suspension of the enforcement order; exceptions to the suspension of the enforcement order; enforcement procedure; functional competence of the enforcement judge (in particular: resolution of conflicts between res judicatas, recognition of the constraint of continuation in the enforcement phase, revocation of the sentence by abolitio criminis).
Prison law (28 hours) - The surveillance procedure; the sources of penitentiary law (Constitution, supranational and European sources, code of criminal procedure, penitentiary system law, implementing regulation, sub-legislative sources, practice, soft law); penitentiary treatment and re-educational treatment; the subjects of treatment; the elements of treatment (in particular, restorative justice, education, work and religion); necessary leave and reward leave; complaints; jurisdictional complaints; compensatory remedies; the issue of overcrowding; the disciplinary procedure; reward-based penitentiary law; the suspension of treatment rules; the so-called "hard prison"; hard prison as a response to organised crime; impeding crimes; the reaction of the Constitutional Court to impeding crimes; alternative measures (probation to social services, probation in special cases, house arrest, semi-liberty); early release; conditional release; principles of juvenile penitentiary law.
N.B. A conference on the topic of cognitive biases in criminal investigation is scheduled for January 2026. The conference addresses a topic of interest both within the scope of the topics covered by the three-year degree course and for the teaching of penitentiary law, given that the problem of biases can also affect the investigation useful for solving issues post rem iudicatam. The conference is thus included among the teaching activities of the course.