The PhD program in "Internationalization of Legal Systems and Fundamental Rights," divided into four distinct yet culturally coherent curricula—Public Law; Criminal Law and Procedural Law; Private Law, Interculturality, and Procedural Law; International, Supranational, and Comparative Law—aims to provide highly qualified legal training on fundamental rights within the national, European, and international legal frameworks.
The relevance and breadth of the subject matter under study necessitate a multidisciplinary approach, which strongly characterizes the curriculum. The three-year program is organized concentrically. The first two years are dedicated to an in-depth study of a core topic of the contemporary legal system chosen by the Teaching Board. In the third year, the curriculum takes on a dual focus. The first, consistent across the cycles, focuses on the supranational legal framework: in particular, PhD students will study the main instruments for guaranteeing fundamental rights in the relationship between states and international organizations. The second is different depending on the cycle, as it is influenced by research lines associated with funding sources and/or identified by the companies with which a collaboration agreement has been reached.
Educational Objectives
Despite the precise identification of the topic of study and the highly specific nature of the second- and third-year courses, the PhD program in "Internationalization of Legal Systems and Fundamental Rights" maintains an essentially theoretical-dogmatic core. The primary objective is to provide PhD students with the tools to understand legal systems as they have been modified by, among other things, the Europeanization and internationalization of law. From a perspective of renewed general theory of legal systems, they are enabled to combine a dogmatic approach with comparative law. The PhD program also pursues a professionalizing objective, aiming to train professionals capable of cutting across the legal field.
The dual nature of the training program (the general theoretical aspect at the beginning, and the more thematically specific one to follow) allows for the development of a solid and eclectic legal foundation, useful for access to both traditional legal professions (lawyers and judges "open" to the European and international dimension) and more contemporary ones, both in the academic field (researchers capable of engaging internationally) and in the domestic and supranational political and institutional sphere (international officials, representatives of NGOs working in the field of human rights protection).
The professionalizing focus of the Doctorate has gradually strengthened over the years thanks to relationships with businesses (public and private), which have co-funded doctoral scholarships and hosted doctoral students for internships. Thus, the training offered enables, indeed facilitates, employment in companies, whether private, public, or mixed public-private partnerships.
Career Opportunities
The complex educational program of the Doctorate in Internationalization of Legal Systems and Fundamental Rights offers numerous career opportunities, allowing broad access to professions, from traditional to more contemporary, both in Italy and abroad. Listed below, over the three-year period, the doctoral student will be adequately trained to:
- conduct research in academia
- enter the judiciary
- practice private practice (lawyer and notary)
- conduct consultancy for businesses
- conduct consultancy for public administrations, subsidiaries or wholly-owned companies, particularly in the areas of anti-
- corruption and transparency, as well as public contracts
- conduct corporate compliance activities
- enter the Italian public administration or supranational, European, and international organizations
conduct work for NGOs.
