Ateneo - UPO

• Jurisdiction and civil proceedings: definition, limits and constitutional safeguards.
• General provisions and principles governing civil proceedings.
• Res judicata and its limits.
• Proceedings on the merits: ordinary proceedings and special procedures.
• Appeals and other means of challenge, with particular reference to appellate proceedings and proceedings before the Court of Cassation.
• Summary, interim and special proceedings.
• Enforcement proceedings.
• Arbitration.

For the 2026/2027 academic year, the general part of the course syllabus must be prepared using the following textbook:

E. MERLIN, Elementi di diritto processuale civile, I, Parte generale, Giappichelli, latest available edition.

The remaining part of the course syllabus may be prepared using the following textbook:
G. BALENA, Diritto processuale civile, Vols. II and III, Cacucci, latest available edition.
The following sections may be omitted:
Vol. III: proceedings concerning persons, minors and families; suspension and termination of enforcement proceedings.

Students who wish to use textbooks or other materials different from those indicated above may do so subject to prior agreement with the course instructor, in order to verify that the selected materials adequately cover the course syllabus.

The reading materials indicated above refer to the 2026/2027 academic year. Students who attended the course in previous academic years remain subject to the syllabus applicable in their respective year of attendance, without prejudice to the necessary updates required by subsequent legislative developments. Particular attention must be paid to the amendments introduced by the so-called Cartabia Reform, implemented, as regards civil proceedings, by Legislative Decree No. 149 of 10 October 2022, implementing Law No. 206 of 26 November 2021, as well as to subsequent legislative amendments.

The study of the textbooks must be accompanied by careful reading of the relevant statutory provisions. Students are therefore strongly advised to use an up-to-date edition of the Italian Code of Civil Procedure.

The course is designed to introduce students to civil procedural law, both in its theoretical foundations and in its current positive-law framework, also by reconsidering substantive law from the perspective of judicial proceedings.

Constitutional Law; Foundations of Private Law; Commercial Law

Classes will be held in person. For certain parts of the course, the instructor will use PowerPoint slides. These materials will be made available to students once the relevant topic has been fully covered in class.

Given the breadth of the syllabus, students are advised to approach the subject through continuous and appropriately planned study and, wherever possible, not to leave this examination until the final stages of their degree programme.
The study of the textbook should always be accompanied by direct and careful reading of the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure referred to in connection with the different topics.
In preparing for the examination, it is particularly useful to understand the relationships between the different procedural institutions, avoiding an exclusively mnemonic approach and paying attention to the overall logic and structure of civil proceedings.
In view of the oral examination, students are also advised to practise presenting the material in a clear, orderly, precise and reasoned manner and, where appropriate, to use simple practical examples to illustrate the legal issues under discussion.

Students with disabilities, Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs), or Special Educational Needs (SEN) may request dedicated services and specific support tools by contacting the University Staff for the Development and Coordination of Student Careers and Services and by consulting the dedicated page on the University website: https://uniupo.it/it/servizi/servizi-studentidisabili-e-dsa.
Once they have contacted the relevant University Staff, students with disabilities, SLDs, or SEN may also contact the course instructor to discuss any necessary adjustments to the examination arrangements in relation to teaching and assessment requirements.

The final examination is intended to assess whether students have achieved the learning objectives described above.
The examination will be oral.
The examination may be divided into two parts:
Part I: general principles and proceedings on the merits, including the rules governing appeals and other means of challenge.
Part II: summary, interim and special proceedings, and enforcement proceedings.
Each student may choose to take the examination in its entirety at the examination session selected.
The final grade, expressed on a scale of thirty, will take into account, in equal measure, the student’s command of qualitative and quantitative reasoning, the ability to critically engage with the topics covered during the course, the ability to establish connections between the different parts of the syllabus, and the ability to formulate explanatory examples concerning the various issues examined.
In order to pass the examination as a whole, students must obtain a passing grade (18/30) in both parts of the syllabus and demonstrate, in relation to each part, an adequate knowledge of the syllabus in its entirety.

Jurisdiction and civil proceedings: definition, limits and constitutional safeguards.
The first part of the course will focus on the concept of jurisdiction and on the function of civil proceedings within the legal system. Particular attention will be devoted to the relationship between jurisdiction and substantive law, the limits of jurisdiction, and the main constitutional principles governing the exercise of judicial functions, including the right of access to justice and the right of defence, the adversarial principle, the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, and the requirement that proceedings be concluded within a reasonable time.

General provisions and principles governing civil proceedings.
The course will examine the general principles and institutions governing the conduct of civil proceedings. Topics will include, among others, jurisdictional competence, the parties and their legal representatives, the role of the public prosecutor, procedural acts, procedural invalidities, time limits, and service and notification of procedural documents. Particular attention will be paid to the function of these institutions within the overall structure of civil proceedings.

Res judicata and its limits.
The course will address the concepts of formal and substantive res judicata, their function within the legal system, and the objective and subjective limits of the binding effect of judgments. Particular attention will be devoted to identifying the subject matter of the proceedings and of the judicial determination, as well as to the relationship between res judicata, substantive legal positions, and subsequent disputes between the parties.

Proceedings on the merits: ordinary proceedings and special procedures.
The rules governing first-instance proceedings on the merits will be examined from the commencement of proceedings through to judgment. Particular attention will be given to the determination of the thema decidendum and the thema probandum, the evidentiary phase, and the principal means of evidence. The course will also consider the main forms of differentiated adjudication and proceedings governed by rules that differ from those applicable to ordinary civil proceedings.

Appeals and other means of challenge, with particular reference to appellate proceedings and proceedings before the Court of Cassation.
The course will examine the general principles governing challenges to judicial decisions and the individual remedies available under Italian procedural law. Specific attention will be devoted to appellate proceedings and appeals before the Court of Cassation, including their function, prerequisites, limits, procedural structure, and relationship with res judicata. The course will also address the principal issues concerning the grounds that may be raised and the scope of review exercised by the appellate court and by the Court of Cassation.

Summary, interim and special proceedings.
The course will examine the principal forms of proceedings characterised by simplified adjudicatory structures or by the need to provide anticipatory and urgent judicial protection. The general principles governing interim relief, its requirements, and the principal interim measures provided for by the Code of Civil Procedure will be considered, together with the summary and special proceedings of greatest relevance within the system of civil judicial protection.

Enforcement proceedings.
The course will address the principles and structure of compulsory enforcement, with particular reference to the relationship between the enforceable title, the formal demand to comply (atto di precetto), and the commencement of enforcement proceedings. The principal forms of enforcement against assets, specific enforcement, and the system of challenges arising in enforcement proceedings will be examined, with particular attention to the relationship between adjudication and enforcement and to the forms of judicial protection available to the debtor and to third parties.

Arbitration.
The course will finally examine the principal aspects of arbitration as an alternative means of resolving civil disputes. Particular attention will be devoted to the arbitration agreement, the limits of arbitrability, the appointment and powers of arbitrators, arbitral proceedings, the arbitral award, and the relationship between state courts and arbitral justice.

By the end of the course, students are expected to have acquired a sound knowledge of the fundamental principles and main institutions of Italian civil procedural law, as well as of their function within the system of judicial protection of rights. They should be able to understand and systematically analyse the rules governing proceedings on the merits, appeals and other means of challenge, summary, interim and special proceedings, compulsory enforcement and arbitration, and to identify the relationships between these different areas of civil procedure. Students are also expected to develop the ability to interpret procedural provisions, identify the relevant legal issues, and apply the knowledge acquired to the analysis of basic procedural cases and legal problems.