Civil procedure attends to dynamic field of judicial experience; the one is affirming the existence of rights, the other is their effective being and peaceful practice. Whether a right is denied or its practice is forbidden, we need effective redress devices. Civil procedure attends to relationships between claimant and defendant. Before studying how proceedings are regulated, however, we need to describe the aim which they can pursue, that is protection forms, which overlap to different kinds of manageable action. We need to specify prerequisities of Courts before which the proceedings is brought, as well as qualities of parties involved in the proceedings, and devices that each of them can use. These general topics concern the first part of the course. In the second and third part we will examine rules of ordinary proceedings before lower courts and appeals.
Canali
teacher profile teaching materials
In detail, the exam syllabus includes the following topics:
1. Jurisdictional protection of rights and the subject matter of the proceedings
1.1. Decision on claims and decision on issues, Part I.
1.2. Decision on claims and decision on issues, Part II.
2. The action, the judicial claim, and the defendant's defenses
2.1. Actions and claims for declaratory, constitutive, and condemnatory relief.
2.2. Self-determined rights, hetero-determined rights, and rights to legal modification.
2.3. The defendant's defenses: default and absence; mere defenses, objections, counterclaims, and motions for the joinder of third parties.
3. Form and validity of procedural acts
3.1. The procedural act.
3.2. The concept of form of the procedural act.
3.3. Nullity of procedural acts.
3.4. Types of invalidity of the procedural act other than nullity.
4.1. Jurisdiction and competence
4.1.1. Jurisdiction and the motion for a ruling on jurisdiction.
4.1.2. Competence and the motion for a ruling on competence.
4.2. The party in the proceedings
4.2.1. Procedural capacity and standing.
4.2.2. Plurality of parties in the proceedings: necessary and optional joinder; voluntary and compulsory intervention. Dismissal of a party.
4.3. Defense counsel, the public prosecutor, and the judge's assistants
5.1. The introductory phase of the proceedings and the hearing
5.1.1. The writ of summons and the statement of defense.
5.1.2. Preliminary checks and the hearing of the case.
6. Evidence
6.1. Definitions and classifications.
6.2. Evidentiary reasoning.
6.3. Individual means of evidence.
7. The decision
7.1. Judgment, order, and decree.
7.1.1. Orders upholding and dismissing the claim (Arts. 183-ter and quater c.p.c.).
7.1.2. Anticipatory orders of condemnation (Arts. 186-bis, ter, and quater c.p.c.).
7.2. In-depth study: the reasoning of the judgment.
7.3. The judgment of fact and the judgment of law.
8. Means of recourse (Challenges to judgments)
8.1. Means of recourse in general.
8.1.1. Ordinary remedies (mezzi di gravame) and challenges in the strict sense.
8.1.2. Conditions for recourse.
8.1.3. Time limits for recourse.
8.1.4. Express and tacit acquiescence to the judgment.
8.1.5. Partial recourse and the progressive formation of internal res judicata.
8.1.6. Incidental recourse (Cross-challenges).
8.1.7. Joinder of parties in the recourse phases.
8.1.8. Inadmissibility and non-procedability of means of recourse.
8.2. Appellate proceedings.
8.2.1. Grounds and subject matter of appellate proceedings.
8.2.2. The ius novorum on appeal.
8.2.3. The procedure and rulings in appellate proceedings.
9. Recourse to the Court of Cassation
9.1.1. Function of the Cassation proceedings.
9.1.2. Preliminary reference to the Court of Cassation.
9.1.3. Grounds for recourse to the Court of Cassation.
9.1.4. The acts: petition, counter-petition, and incidental petition (cross-petition).
9.1.5. Proceedings before the Court of Cassation.
9.1.6. Decisions of the Court of Cassation.
9.1.7. Challenging judgments of the Court of Cassation.
9.1.8. Remand proceedings.
9.2. Ordinary revocation.
10. Res judicata
10.1. Definition, prerequisites, and rationale.
10.2. Formal and substantive, internal and external, implicit and explicit, and partial res judicata.
10.3. Objective, subjective, and chronological limits of res judicata.
10.4. Extraordinary means of recourse.
10.4.1. Extraordinary revocation.
10.4.2. Third-party opposition.
11. Anomalous events in the proceedings: Suspension, interruption, and extinction of the proceedings.
12. Simplified civil proceedings.
13. Proceedings before the Justice of the Peace.
Furthermore, the study of the following case law materials, available on the Moodle and Teams channels of the Civil Procedure Law I course, constitutes an integral part of the syllabus for the successful completion of the exam:
- Sentenza delle S.U. Civili della Corte di Cassazione n. 6500 del 28.02.2022 (in tema di c.t.u.);
- Sentenza delle S.U. Civili della Corte di Cassazione n. 5792 del 05.03.2024 (in tema di travisamento della prova);
- Sentenza delle S.U. Civili della Corte di Cassazione n. 24172 del 29.08.2025 (in tema di nullità);
- Sentenze di Cass., sez. lav., n. 6/2001 - n. 2062/2001 - n. 8859/2001 con nota di commento di R. Poli, Oscillazioni della Suprema Corte in tema di limiti oggettivi del giudicato interno, in Giur. it., 2002, pp. 2065-2069;
- Sentenza di Cass., sez. III civ., sent., 29 gennaio 2018, n. 2061 con nota di commento di R.M. De Angelis, Sulla prova del nesso causale, in Riv. dir. proc., 2019, pp. 587-601.
C. Mandrioli – A. Carratta, Diritto processuale civile, editio maior, Torino, vols. I-II.
G. Ruffini, Diritto processuale civile, Bologna, vols. I-II.
Consultation of an updated Code of Civil Procedure and Civil Code is essential.
Furthermore, the study of the following case law materials, available on the Moodle and Teams channels of the Civil Procedure Law I course, constitutes an integral part of the syllabus for the successful completion of the exam (see the "Syllabus" section).
Programme
The course will cover the general principles of the trial, the regulation of ordinary and summary civil proceedings, and the system of ordinary and extraordinary appeals.In detail, the exam syllabus includes the following topics:
1. Jurisdictional protection of rights and the subject matter of the proceedings
1.1. Decision on claims and decision on issues, Part I.
1.2. Decision on claims and decision on issues, Part II.
2. The action, the judicial claim, and the defendant's defenses
2.1. Actions and claims for declaratory, constitutive, and condemnatory relief.
2.2. Self-determined rights, hetero-determined rights, and rights to legal modification.
2.3. The defendant's defenses: default and absence; mere defenses, objections, counterclaims, and motions for the joinder of third parties.
3. Form and validity of procedural acts
3.1. The procedural act.
3.2. The concept of form of the procedural act.
3.3. Nullity of procedural acts.
3.4. Types of invalidity of the procedural act other than nullity.
4.1. Jurisdiction and competence
4.1.1. Jurisdiction and the motion for a ruling on jurisdiction.
4.1.2. Competence and the motion for a ruling on competence.
4.2. The party in the proceedings
4.2.1. Procedural capacity and standing.
4.2.2. Plurality of parties in the proceedings: necessary and optional joinder; voluntary and compulsory intervention. Dismissal of a party.
4.3. Defense counsel, the public prosecutor, and the judge's assistants
5.1. The introductory phase of the proceedings and the hearing
5.1.1. The writ of summons and the statement of defense.
5.1.2. Preliminary checks and the hearing of the case.
6. Evidence
6.1. Definitions and classifications.
6.2. Evidentiary reasoning.
6.3. Individual means of evidence.
7. The decision
7.1. Judgment, order, and decree.
7.1.1. Orders upholding and dismissing the claim (Arts. 183-ter and quater c.p.c.).
7.1.2. Anticipatory orders of condemnation (Arts. 186-bis, ter, and quater c.p.c.).
7.2. In-depth study: the reasoning of the judgment.
7.3. The judgment of fact and the judgment of law.
8. Means of recourse (Challenges to judgments)
8.1. Means of recourse in general.
8.1.1. Ordinary remedies (mezzi di gravame) and challenges in the strict sense.
8.1.2. Conditions for recourse.
8.1.3. Time limits for recourse.
8.1.4. Express and tacit acquiescence to the judgment.
8.1.5. Partial recourse and the progressive formation of internal res judicata.
8.1.6. Incidental recourse (Cross-challenges).
8.1.7. Joinder of parties in the recourse phases.
8.1.8. Inadmissibility and non-procedability of means of recourse.
8.2. Appellate proceedings.
8.2.1. Grounds and subject matter of appellate proceedings.
8.2.2. The ius novorum on appeal.
8.2.3. The procedure and rulings in appellate proceedings.
9. Recourse to the Court of Cassation
9.1.1. Function of the Cassation proceedings.
9.1.2. Preliminary reference to the Court of Cassation.
9.1.3. Grounds for recourse to the Court of Cassation.
9.1.4. The acts: petition, counter-petition, and incidental petition (cross-petition).
9.1.5. Proceedings before the Court of Cassation.
9.1.6. Decisions of the Court of Cassation.
9.1.7. Challenging judgments of the Court of Cassation.
9.1.8. Remand proceedings.
9.2. Ordinary revocation.
10. Res judicata
10.1. Definition, prerequisites, and rationale.
10.2. Formal and substantive, internal and external, implicit and explicit, and partial res judicata.
10.3. Objective, subjective, and chronological limits of res judicata.
10.4. Extraordinary means of recourse.
10.4.1. Extraordinary revocation.
10.4.2. Third-party opposition.
11. Anomalous events in the proceedings: Suspension, interruption, and extinction of the proceedings.
12. Simplified civil proceedings.
13. Proceedings before the Justice of the Peace.
Furthermore, the study of the following case law materials, available on the Moodle and Teams channels of the Civil Procedure Law I course, constitutes an integral part of the syllabus for the successful completion of the exam:
- Sentenza delle S.U. Civili della Corte di Cassazione n. 6500 del 28.02.2022 (in tema di c.t.u.);
- Sentenza delle S.U. Civili della Corte di Cassazione n. 5792 del 05.03.2024 (in tema di travisamento della prova);
- Sentenza delle S.U. Civili della Corte di Cassazione n. 24172 del 29.08.2025 (in tema di nullità);
- Sentenze di Cass., sez. lav., n. 6/2001 - n. 2062/2001 - n. 8859/2001 con nota di commento di R. Poli, Oscillazioni della Suprema Corte in tema di limiti oggettivi del giudicato interno, in Giur. it., 2002, pp. 2065-2069;
- Sentenza di Cass., sez. III civ., sent., 29 gennaio 2018, n. 2061 con nota di commento di R.M. De Angelis, Sulla prova del nesso causale, in Riv. dir. proc., 2019, pp. 587-601.
Core Documentation
For the preparation of the Civil Procedure Law I exam, it is recommended to study—as an alternative to one another and limited only to the topics specified in the exam syllabus—one of the following textbooks in the most recent and updated edition availableC. Mandrioli – A. Carratta, Diritto processuale civile, editio maior, Torino, vols. I-II.
G. Ruffini, Diritto processuale civile, Bologna, vols. I-II.
Consultation of an updated Code of Civil Procedure and Civil Code is essential.
Furthermore, the study of the following case law materials, available on the Moodle and Teams channels of the Civil Procedure Law I course, constitutes an integral part of the syllabus for the successful completion of the exam (see the "Syllabus" section).
Attendance
Although not mandatory, attendance at lectures and participation in the additional activities offered within the course (e.g., written exercises, seminars, etc.) are highly recommended."Type of evaluation
The exam consists of an oral examination in which the student must demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the course contents, as well as the ability to apply them to cases presented by the professor. The student must be able to independently analyze the relevant legal sources and jurisprudential trends, and correctly use the technical-legal vocabulary of the subject, thereby demonstrating that they have acquired the study method and learning skills necessary to continue exploring the discipline autonomously. For the purpose of awarding the final grade (out of thirty), the following evaluation criteria will be taken into account: • Knowledge and understanding of the legal concepts and principles of the subject, and the ability to apply them to concrete cases (60%); • Command of the technical-legal vocabulary (25%); • Knowledge and ability to consult and evaluate relevant sources, and acquisition of the proper study method (15%). The presence of knowledge gaps regarding one or more topics of the exam syllabus will result in a failing grade, even if the student possesses a basic knowledge of the subject.