Diritto pubblico — Introduction to Legal Systems and Norms + 4 more topics

Diritto Pubblico (Public Law)
Public law governs the organization and functioning of the state, public bodies, and their relationships with private individuals. Its primary goal is to protect the general interest (l'interesse generale) or public interest (l'interesse pubblico). When the state acts under public law, it typically operates with a position of superiority (posizioni di supremazia) over individuals, exercising its sovereign powers (poteri autoritativi).

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• Funzione preventiva e deterrente: Scoraggiano comportamenti illeciti, sia a livello individuale (prevenzione speciale) sia per la collettività (prevenzione generale).
• Funzione ripristinatoria e riparatoria: Mirano a ristabilire la situazione precedente all'illecito o a compensare il danno subito.
• Funzione afflittiva e retributiva: Impongono una sofferenza o un sacrificio come risposta al male compiuto.

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• Legislation: Laws passed by a legislative body (like Parliament). This is the most common source in many systems. Think of acts, statutes, or codes.
• Custom: Practices that have been followed consistently over time and are accepted as legally binding within a community. Less common in modern public law, but still relevant in some areas.
• Jurisprudence (Case Law): Decisions made by courts, especially higher courts. In common law systems (like the UK or US), these decisions can create binding precedents. In civil law systems (like Italy), court decisions interpret law but generally don't create new binding rules for future cases in the same way.
• Doctrine: The opinions and writings of legal scholars. While not legally binding, they influence how legislators and judges think about and interpret the law.
• Constitutions: The supreme law of a land, outlining the basic principles of government, rights, and the structure of the legal system itself. All other laws must conform to the Constitution.