IMPLEMENTING RULES OF THE DOCTORAL SCHOOL OF COMPARATIVE AND EUROPEAN LEGAL STUDIES

Transcription

1 [Approved by the Council of the Department of Legal Sciences on 25 November 2009; attached to the proposal for introduction of the 26th Cycle Academic Year: ]

2 INDEX Article 1. The Doctoral School Article 2. Purposes Article 3. Governing Bodies Article 4. The Doctoral School Board Article 5. The Executive Committee Article 6. Director and Vice-Director Article 7. Tutors Article 8. Institutional training activities Article 9. Attendance Article 10. Study programmes abroad and internships Article 11. Prospectus Article 12. Admission examination Article 13. Incompatibility Article 14. Admission to the second and third years Article 15. Admission to the final examination and awarding of the degree Article 16. Student services Article 17. Rights and duties of foreign PhD students Article 18. Amendment of the implementing rules Article 19. Reference provisions Page 2 of 12

3 Article 1. The Doctoral School 1. The Doctoral School of Comparative and European Legal Studies ( the School ), established by a resolution of the Council of the Department of Legal Sciences of , offers courses organised in a number of PhD programmes and is aimed at training researchers with an in-depth knowledge of the historical, economic, social and supranational contexts in which contemporary legal studies are set. 2. The School runs five PhD programmes, each one comprising two or three specialist subject areas, as detailed in Annex 1 below. 3. The School is based at the Department of Legal Sciences of the University of Trento ( the Department ), with which it has concluded an agreement for the use of its facilities and equipment. The School has set up a Secretariat for handling all the relevant administrative formalities, which is also based at the Department s Secretariat. Article 2. Purpose 1. The School has been set up with the aim of offering postgraduate students the knowledge and resources for rigorously addressing legal research issues and topics, based on comparative methods, and with a special focus on the European, international and global dimensions of law. Its purpose, therefore, is to provide a cross-disciplinary environment where postgraduate students can apply their skills in the development of original theories, thus participating in the national and international legal debate. Article 3. Governing Bodies 1. The governing bodies of the School are: the Doctoral School Board; the Executive Committee; the Director. Article 4. The Doctoral School Board 1. The Doctoral School Board ( the Board ) is composed of a minimum of fifteen members drawn from among the ranks of the full and associate professors and researchers belonging to the Department. The Director of the Department is an ex officio member of the Board. The Board is complemented for a minimum of one sixth and up to a maximum of half its members by experts from other research institutions, and/or by the representatives of participating consortium partners, if any. At least one half of said experts must come from institutions based in other countries. Page 3 of 12

4 Any new members must be approved by the Board. 2. The Board performs the tasks set out in the University Regulations on Doctoral Research schools ( the Regulations ) and in these Rules. 3. Board meetings are called by the Director, who also acts as Chairperson, or at the request of at least one third of the Board members. The notice calling a meeting must be sent at least seven days before the date of such meeting, by any means deemed the most suitable for ensuring receipt thereof, including s. In urgent cases, the notice period above may be reduced to three days. As a rule, the agenda of the meeting is included in the meeting notice. 4. For a meeting to make valid decisions a quorum is required of the majority of its members, minus those absent with leave. Any resolutions shall be passed with the majority of those attending. In the case of an equality of votes, the Director shall have the casting vote. 5. Minutes are made of the Board meetings by the Chairperson and the minute-taking Secretary, who shall be the most junior professor attending the meeting. 6. When, in cases of urgency, a Board resolution is required and there is no time to call a meeting in accordance with the provisions above, the decisions may be taken by means of teleconferencing, provided that all the members are connected and subject to the ratification of the decisions at the next formal Board meeting. Article 5. The Executive Committee 1. The Executive Committee ( the Committee ) is set up by the Board and its membership comprises the Director, the Vice-Director and a representative from each of the PhD programmes implemented by the School. If the minimum membership required under the Regulations is not attained, the Board shall appoint the missing members. 2. The Committee, besides the tasks laid down in the Regulations, a) takes care of the scientific and teaching organisation of the School; b) assists the Director in preparing the Annual Report referred to under articles 14(3)(e) and 16(1) of the Regulations; c) proposes partnering agreements with other Universities and public or private organisations; d) organizes the School admission tests and the final PhD degree examinations. 3. Minutes are made of the Committee meetings by the Chairperson and the minutetaking Secretary, who shall be the most junior professor attending the meeting. 4. When, in cases of urgency, a Committee resolution is required and there is no time to call a meeting in accordance with the provisions above, the decisions may be taken by Page 4 of 12

5 means of teleconferencing, provided that all the members are connected and subject to the ratification of the decisions at the next formal Committee meeting. Article 6. Director and Vice-Director 1. The Director is elected by the Board from among the ranks of the ordinary and associate professors in service at the University of Trento who are members of the School. 2. The Director appoints a Vice-Director from among the ranks of the ordinary and associate professors in service at the University of Trento who are members of the School. The Vice-Director stands in for the Director, if the latter is absent or unavailable for any reason, and can act in his place whenever required. Article 7. Tutors 1. Each PhD student is assigned a tutor, whose task is to facilitate his/her integration in the School, supervise his/her scientific development, advise him/her in respect of the choice of institution(s) in which to spend the study period abroad, and provide guidance as concerns preparation of his/her dissertation. 2. Tutors are chosen from among the ranks of professors and of researchers with a seniority of at least three years, who need not necessarily be members of the Department, but who in the last five years have produced scientific papers in the School s area of expertise, subject to their acceptance of the appointment and with the consent of the PhD students concerned. 3. In exceptional cases, and at the same conditions, a tutor may be a scholar who is not a professor or a researcher, but who has provided a significant contribution to the specific field of research in which the PhD student is engaged. 4. The tutor formulates an opinion on the dissertation prepared by the PhD student for the purpose of admission to the final examination. 5. The tutors work in liaison with the Director. Article 8. Institutional training activities 1. In the first School attendance year, a minimum of 120 hours of common academic instruction is provided for all the programmes. PhD students also take part in other structured activities organised by either the Faculty or the Department, for no less than 80 hours. Page 5 of 12

6 2. Scientific instruction is organised under the supervision of the Director and the representatives of each PhD programme, also based on proposals received from the teaching staff members of the Board. Each teaching staff member of the Department may propose scientific instruction activities deemed consistent with the scope of the Doctorate. The calendar of training activities, however, must be approved by the Director. 3. If possible, the training activities shall be organised in the form of seminars. A part of the teaching may be conducted in English and, if the Board thinks fit, in French, German or Spanish. 4. PhD students may opt to attend conferences or seminars, inside or outside the Department, in lieu of 20 of the 120 hours of training. In order to obtain the credits awarded in connection with such attendance options, PhD students must apply for prior authorisation by the Director, attaching the favourable opinion of their tutor, and subsequently hand in an attendance certificate to the School Secretariat. 5. In the second and third School years, the didactic activities are carried out by the teaching staff of the programmes, under the supervision of the Director. Such didactic activities generally totalling at least 30 hours include internal seminars as well as meetings where current research projects can be discussed, and may include the participation, by each PhD student, in conferences and seminars even outside the Department. 6. Each person in charge of a PhD programme shall present a report on the didactic activities carried out. 7. From the second year on, PhD students may take part in research programmes at foreign institutions or within training internships. Article 9. Attendance 1. Attendance of all of the School s scientific activities is mandatory. Absences may be excused by the Director based on a motivated request, provided that the number and quality thereof is not such as to jeopardise the student s achievements under the PhD programme, without prejudice to the minimum attendance requirements. Any absences due to the attendance of study programmes abroad, as approved by the Director or the Board, need not be excused. Article 10. Study programmes abroad and internships 1. Starting from the second year of the PhD programme, PhD students shall be required to carry out a research project at an institution abroad. Page 6 of 12

7 2. The overall period spent abroad for the research project shall be at least six months; the six months need not necessarily be consecutive, but the length of each period spent abroad shall not be less than two months, unless the Director authorises otherwise. 3. The research projects may be carried out at any of the institutions listed in the Prospectus or other suitable institutions, according to the purpose and nature of the research work. 4. Each PhD student s proposed research project and foreign institution requires approval - subject to the favourable opinion of the tutor - by either (i) the Board, in the case of study periods in excess of six months, or (ii) the Director, for periods equal to or less than six months. 5. The School Secretariat must always be kept informed as to the study periods spent abroad. 6. The Board may exonerate a PhD student from this obligation, in the case of PhD students who have not been awarded a scholarship, or for other special reasons. 7. The other training activities may consist of internships at EU or international institutions, embassies or other diplomatic representations or other private or public organisations operating within the PhD student s field of research; such activities shall be subject to the same approval and authorisation procedures as specified hereinabove. 8. The Board may decide to include among the curricular activities the participation by the PhD students in scientific Conferences and meetings at national or international level. For all other matters concerning the training activities, reference should be made to the Regulations. Article 11. Prospectus 1. Each academic year the Board shall issue a Prospectus in which the following must be indicated: a) the names of the Director and of the members of the Executive Committee and the Board; b) the teaching activities and the relevant calendar; c) the foreign research institutions accepting PhD students, and (ii) the nature of the training activities abroad and the related attendance rules; d) the facilities available to the PhD students for research activities. 2. The calendar of the training activities may be altered or supplemented during the year by the Director, also acting on proposals received from the persons in charge of the PhD programmes. Page 7 of 12

8 3. The updated version of the calendar shall be timely posted on the School portal by the Secretariat, and the Director shall report to the Board at each meeting with respect thereto. Article 12. Admission examination 1. The School admits candidates through a selection procedure based on a written and an oral examination. 2. Candidates shall specify in their application the PhD programme they wish to apply for and the language in which they wish to take the examination. 3. With regard to the written examination, the Examining Board shall prepare three exam paper titles for each specialist subject area included in the PhD programme, as detailed in Annex 1. Only one of the three exam paper titles is then selected for each specialist subject area, by means of a draw. The candidates may choose any one of the exam paper titles drawn for each PhD programme. 4. The written examination may be taken in any one of the following languages: Italian, English, German, French or Spanish. 5. In the assessment of the exam papers the Examining Board takes into account: the consistency of the paper with the title, the completeness of the description provided, the exactness of the exposition and the language, the capacity of synthesis and descriptive clarity, and the focus on comparative legal profiles. 6. In order to be admitted to the oral examination, the candidate must obtain a grade equal to or higher than 36/60 in the written examination. 7. The oral examination will consist of: the discussion of the exam paper, the assessment of the candidate s aptitude to research, a general assessment of the candidate s knowledge of the subject matters of the selected PhD programme. The oral examination will also focus on the research the candidate wishes to engage in and will include an assessment of the candidate s language skills, with respect to any one of the following languages: English, German, French or Spanish. The assessment, however, shall also include Italian, if neither the written nor the oral examination have been held in this language. 8. In the assessment of the oral examination, the Examining Board takes into account the clarity of exposition, the candidate s knowledge of the subject matter of the examination with respect to its national and supranational profiles, the candidate s proficiency in the research field he/she wishes to engage in. With specific regard to Page 8 of 12

9 language assessment, account shall be taken of the candidate s reading and translating skills and of his/her understanding of legal concepts in the selected language. 9. The oral examination shall be passed with a grade equal to or above 36/60. Article 13. Incompatibility 1. Without prejudice to the Regulation prescriptions, enrolment at the School is not compatible with work under a permanent employment contract, nor with work engagements on a temporary basis, save within the limits and restrictions as authorised by the Board. Article 14. Admission to the second and third years 1. In order to gain admission to the second year, PhD students are required to achieve 60 credits in the first year, as follows: - 40 credits for course attendance, for at least 75% of the mandatory lessons; - 20 credits for the successful completion, in the opinion of the Director or of an Advisory Committee appointed by the Board, of two papers, one in Italian and the other in a foreign language (English, German, French or Spanish). 2. The papers should relate to two academic activities in which the PhD student has taken part during the first year, one of which must be relevant to his/her PhD programme, and the other to a different programme. If the PhD students desires to write the paper on a seminar other than those organised by the School, the seminar must in any case have been credited and the PhD students shall be required to apply for a special and express authorisation by the Director. The papers, approximately 20 pages long, should be handed in by 15 September. 3. For admission to the third year, PhD students are required to achieve at least 60 credits during the second year, as follows: - 30 credits for attendance of both the internal and external didactic activities, for at least 75% of the mandatory second-year lessons, based on a report submitted by the PhD student and approved by the person in charge of the PhD programme; - 30 credits for passing an interview, approximately at the beginning of October, held by a Committee specifically appointed by the Board, in respect of the progress of the PhD student s research work and based on the index, albeit provisional, of his/her doctoral dissertation. Each PhD student must send this index to the Secretariat of the School by mid-september. 4. Admission to the second and third years is decided by the Board based on the achievement of the required credits according to the criteria set out in the paragraphs above. Page 9 of 12

10 Article 15. Admission to the final examination and awarding of the degree 1. For admission to the final examination, PhD students are required to achieve 40 credits during the third year, as follows: - 20 credits for attendance of both the internal and external didactic activities, for at least 75% of the mandatory third-year lessons, based on a report submitted by the PhD student and approved by the person in charge of the PhD programme; - 20 credits for the doctoral dissertation according to the progress made, based on the favourable opinion of the tutor. A further 20 credits shall be awarded following the approval and discussion of the dissertation. 2. The Board, having verified the accumulation of the requisite credits, admits the candidate to the final examination, expressing an in-depth opinion on the candidate s achievements throughout the PhD programme. 3. PhD students are required to send their dissertations to the School Secretariat no later than the end of January of the year fixed for the examination, and to the members of the Examining Board at least one month before the examination date. 4. The Board then proposes to the Rector the setting up of as many Examining Boards for the final examination (which may also include members of foreign scientific institutions) as are the PhD programmes; the awarding of the qualification of Research Doctor in Comparative and European Legal Studies shall be accompanied by a reference to the PhD programme selected by the PhD student. Article 16. Student services 1. For the entire duration of the PhD programme, students will have access to a study room with PCs, printers and (fixed and wireless) Internet connection, as well as to a seminar room. 2. PhD students will also have access to the Department s Legal Practice Laboratory, with numerous Italian and foreign publications, on top of the books of the University Library, which PhD students can freely access by showing their credentials. 3. In order to access the study room and the Legal Practice Laboratory, PhD students must apply to the School Secretariat (dottorato.sgce@unitn.it). 4. PhD students may use the materials, equipment and facilities made available to them by the Department of Legal Sciences of the Faculty of Law exclusively for study purposes and only for the duration of the PhD programme. Page 10 of 12

11 Article 17. Rights and duties of foreign PhD students 1. The rights and duties of PhD students as laid down in the Regulations and in these Rules shall also apply to the foreign PhD students admitted to the School for the year of study required under the rules governing the mutual recognition of the international Doctorate. Article 18. Amendment of the implementing rules 1. Any amendments to the Implementing Rules approved in accordance with article 8(4) of the Regulations shall be posted in the School portal and become effective on the date of posting, which shall be clearly announced. Article 19. Reference provisions 1. These Implementing Rules shall supplement, for the matters set out herein, the applicable national law and the Regulations, which shall, in any case, fully apply. Page 11 of 12

12 ANNEX 1 The School features five PhD programmes, with specialist subject areas as follows: PhD programme on Private, comparative private and commercial law, including three subject areas: - Comparative private law - Economic analysis of law - Commercial law PhD programme on Public law, including two subject areas: - Constitutional law - Administrative law PhD programme on Criminal law and procedure, philosophy of law, including three subject areas: - Criminal law - Criminal procedural law - Philosophy of law PhD programme on Substantial and procedural labour law, including two subject areas: - Labour law - Civil procedural law PhD programme on History of Roman law and of European legal thought, including two subject areas: - Roman law - History of European legal thought. Page 12 of 12