Founded in 1806, the University of Palermo (UNIPA) is a consolidated cultural, scientific and teaching presence in Italy. Its 5 Schools and 20 Departments cover the most important domains of contemporary scientific and technological knowledge. About 122 courses (first and second cycle) are yearly offered as well as 44 master and specialization and 23 PhD courses, targeted to the training of specific professional figures, often in cooperation with external institutions and companies - a galaxy which attracts on average 10,000 first-year students every year. Unipa is also partner of the FORTHEM project within the European Universities Action 2 of the Erasmus+.
The Law School of Palermo University – Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza (from now: Di.Gi.) is the heir of the ancient Faculty of Law, a place where many of the most authoritative jurists in the Italian and European fields were trained and have taught, as Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino (heroes who fought against Mafia) or the actual President of Italian Republic. As part of the State University the main goals are 3:
a) Research,
b) Education and
c) the so-called “third mission”, that regards activities for the social accountability of Academy.
a) In particular among the main areas of research there are: Human Rights and International Law, Democracy and Rule of law; State borders and human mobility, Citizenship, Asylum and Migration; Minorities, Vulnerable Subjects, (Non) Discrimination, the phenomena and the strategy to prevent and combat the Organized Crime, etc.;
b) The Di.Gi. educational programs include: Undergraduate courses, Postgraduate courses, PhD programs and Lifelong learning paths.
c) The social commitment of the Palermo department is expressed mainly by the presence of CLEDU: a Law Clinic for Human Rights within the Department. It is highly committed in protection and empowerment of migrants, refugees', minorities', and vulnerable subjects' rights, offering them pro bono legal aid.
The Di.Gi. was one of the few Law school in Italy awarded a funding of several years within the Ministerial program "Departments of Excellence 2018-2022". This result acknowledges the importance of a project which aims at placing the Department in a central position within the Euro-Mediterranean Research Area. The Di.Gi. decided to invest the grants of the award to create a Master Course in “International migration: Law and Public Policy” For undergraduates, Di.Gi. offers a Law Degree Course of 5 years, which is spread over three different cities (Palermo, Agrigento, Trapani), and a Three-year Degree Course in Business Legal Consultant in Trapani. The degree course in Jurisprudence in Palermo has signed agreements for the implementation of integrated courses with the University of Beijing. For post-graduated teaching, the Department proposes two PhD Courses: one in "Human Rights" and the other in "Legal pluralisms". Both of these courses are characterized by: multidisciplinary approach, social commitment and a strong international vocation (both, in fact, offer the possibility of achieving a double title following agreements in agreement with foreign universities, as well as a network of collaborations with other universities for conducting part of the doctorate abroad in "co-thesis"). DiGi also organizes lifelong learning activities for legal professionals, social workers and interested citizens (such as lawyers, magistrates, civil servants) in partnership with NGOs and others civil society actors. The Jean Monnet Module on "Mobility, Security and the New Media", funded by the EU under the Erasmus + Program offers a 3-year course by a group of local and international experts, and is addressed to advanced students, PhD students, to magistrates, to lawyers and to representatives of the police. Among the staff, about 110 people are professors and researchers, and about 30 administrative personnel.
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