Course Topics
Legal instruments that PAs must and can adopt to promote sustainability goals. Definition of contract and principles of law for public sector contracts. Validity and invalidity of contracts. Vexatious clauses. The role of sustainability goals in public procurement. Contract and contract content. Contract clauses and sustainable environmental and social content. The Minimum Environmental Criteria (CAM). Public procedures for the selection of contractors as governed by the Public Contracts Code and European Union regulations. Sustainability objectives as a policy in public contract award criteria. Supply chain due diligence and PA liability. PA liability for non-compliance with regulatory provisions and principles on environmental and social sustainability. Sustainability certifications and their role for the public sector. Sustainability logos. The execution phase of a public contract, fulfilment and non-fulfilment. Ordinary and alternative dispute resolution systems for public contracts.

Teaching format
Lectures

Educational objectives
ILO (Intended Learning Outcomes) ILO1 Knowledge and understanding ILO1.1 The student acquires legal knowledge necessary for the training of senior public sector professionals, capable of understanding and managing the internal dynamics and relations of public bodies and local, national and supranational administrations. This knowledge is essential to enable students to successfully take part in public competitions. ILO1.2 "The student/trainee acquires knowledge of organisational models, business factors related to the organisation of public enterprises operating in different sectors (international organisations, central government, local authorities, health care, public enterprises) and the consequences for the community. You will also acquire knowledge necessary for developing, managing and evaluating the impact of public projects, and knowledge useful for analysing organisational innovation processes and interpreting current tools and trends relating to personnel management in public companies." ILO2 Ability to apply knowledge and understanding ILO2.1 Ability to interpret and apply the main rules on the organisation and operation of public organisations ILO2.2 Ability to use the techniques of legal reasoning in the field of public administration and the public sector, to use the appropriate legal terminology in the three languages of instruction, and to apply the knowledge gained to concrete legal and organisational events at local, national and supranational level ILO3 Making judgements ILO3.1 ability to apply acquired knowledge to interpret economic and business phenomena in order to make managerial and operational decisions in the context of public administration ILO3.2 ability to select data and use appropriate information to describe a problem concerning the design, implementation and evaluation of public sector projects and policies, aiming at innovation and improvement of processes, products and results ILO3.3 ability to reflect, including from a public ethics and sustainability perspective with regard to future generations, on the responsibilities associated with the use of public resources ILO4 Communication skills ILO4.1 ability to communicate effectively in oral and written form the specialised contents of the individual disciplines, using different registers according to recipients and communicative and didactic purposes, and to evaluate the formative effects of his/her communication ILO5 Learning ability ILO5.1 ability to use information technology autonomously to carry out bibliographical research and investigations and for one's own training and further education.

Assessment
The final grade is awarded in the final written examination, which consists of three or four open questions with more specific sub-questions (ILO 1, 2, 3).

Evaluation criteria
Clarity of answers, command of language (including knowledge of legal terminology and logical coherence), ability to summarise, evaluate and make connections between different topics.

Required readings

L. Cuocolo, Diritto dello sviluppo sostenibile, Il Mulino, 2025, chapters 1, 2, 7, 8,10,11.

F. Grassi, "Gli appalti verdi: la tutela dell'ambiente attraverso l'attività contrattuale delle pubbliche amministrazioni", in Diritto dei contratti pubblici, edited by Pappano, Giani, Grazzini, Pacini Giuridica, 2025, pp. 555-576.

A. Maltoni, "Contratti pubblici e sostenibilità ambientale", in Rivista interdisciplinare sul Diritto delle Amministrazioni pubbliche, 3/2023.

"Sustainable Public Procurement and the Sustainable Development Goals", Nordic Council of Ministers, 2021;

"Minimum Environmental Criteria (CAM): main sentences, consolidated orientations and jurisprudential oscillations", sentenzeappalti.it.

"La nuova disciplina dei contratti pubblici. Commento al D. Lgs. 31.3.2023, n. 36" (ed. by Brunella Bruno, Marco Mariani, Emilio Toma), Giappichelli Editore, 2023 (in the parts indicated on Teams).

The amount of study required will be in line with the number of credits of the Course.

 

It is essential to accompany the study with the reading of the Public Contracts Code and the Civil Code (e.g. Zanichelli ed., De Nova or Hoepli), in the most recent edition available.

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