With the project “Justice and contemporary society – In the footsteps of Giacomo Matteotti, criminal lawyer”, L’University of Ferrara placed second in the ranking of the twenty-two entities awarded by National Anniversaries Committee of the politician. The Unife project thus accesses the financing of the Segre law for celebration of the figure of Giacomo Matteotti on the occasion of one hundred years since his death. At the center of the University of Ferrara’s proposal is the promotion of the study of Matteotti’s thought and work, in order to give it new relevance on a scientific and social level. The backbone of the project is the School dedicated to the figure of Matteotti, jurist, organized by Macrocrimes Center – Center for European legal studies on major crime. They will also be made available scholarships for degree theses and created one virtual library of his legal works.
The initiative was born from Department of Law of the University of Ferrara, linked to the Veneto region for over twenty years with the master’s degree course established in Rovigo in the Palazzo Angeli headquarters, which opens right onto the central Piazza Matteotti. The Department is an active part of Polesine provincial committee for the 1924-2024 celebrationswithin which the project was conceived and promoted by Professor Daniele Negriprofessor of criminal procedural law at Unife and member of the Committee’s operational core.
“Starting from the ideas expressed in Matteotti’s penal writings, the School’s path develops around four thematic strands which investigate the relationships between justice and contemporary society: cultures (the historical and philosophical foundations), policies (the current directions of the legislation), practices (the main trends in the daily life of justice), transformations (digital justice, international justice in times of war)”, explains Negri.
It is divided into five days of intensive teaching activities, starting on May 31, 2024in the form of lessons and workshops, which will take place in the Casa Museo Matteotti in Fratta Polesine and in the Ferrara and Rovigo offices of the Department of Law.
The lessons, held by speakers capable of combining scientific rigor and dissemination skills, are also open to teachers and pupils of secondary schools, magistrates and lawyers (the Bar Associations of Ferrara and Rovigo, the Ferrarese Forensic Foundation and the Criminal Chamber of Ferrara), as well as to all towns and citizens. The workshops are reserved for university students enrolled in the Law degree course (registrations will remain open until May 18th: www.macrocrimes.eu).
The project also includes the assignment of scholarships for degree theses on topics inspired by the writings of the jurist from Polesine, with the opportunity for students to spend periods of study in the European countries where the young Giacomo Matteotti deepened his legal preparation.
Researchers at the Macrocrimes Center will create a virtual library of Matteotti’s legal works, already freely consultable on the website of the House Museum of Fratta Polesine, alongside them with explanations, guided tours and historical maps aimed at contextualising the writings in the legal debate of the time and illustrating their reception in the scientific community over time.
Conferences and study meetings in the Polesine and Ferrara area will give further prominence in the coming months to the life and work of Giacomo Matteotti (scheduled, among other things, is the round table “On rights and duties. Matteotti’s thought in the Constitution ”, at Palazzo Cezza in Rovigo on the afternoon of May 24th, animated by Professors Alessandra Annoni, Daniele Negri, Marco Venturoli and Paolo Veronesi).
