Regarding the legal field, studies on the origins of a common framework, fundamental principles, and institutions that led to the emergence of the Ius publicum europaeum have always served as a preliminary step for a thorough reflection on modernity. This includes the development of states, the beginnings of the regulation of their interactions (i.e., international law), and Italian and European political institutions.
The field of international law is an area with significant research focused on human rights and immigration. These issues have gained increasing political and practical importance in Italy, Europe, and worldwide. They are linked with studies of European Union law, private international law, and international economic law. These increasingly vital contemporary themes are also explored by researchers from other scientific disciplines, allowing further investigation through legal perspectives in public law, private law, administrative law, criminal law, and labour law, as well as from historical-legal, international-historical, political-historical, and philosophical-legal viewpoints. Emphasising this interdisciplinarity, DISPI has high expectations for its research over the next three years, supported by numerous ongoing projects. Recently, there has been a focus on topics such as gender discrimination, gender violence, and sexual identity - for which LARGE (Laboratory for Gender Research) was established — as well as the multicultural dimension of human rights, the importance of cultural heritage in ensuring these rights, minority and indigenous peoples' rights, and the international regulation of cybersecurity. For years, these studies have been carried out through CIRDUIS (Interuniversity Research Center on Human Rights and Immigration and Asylum Law), which involves several Italian universities and maintains many international connections.
The research commitment in public and constitutional law, including comparative law, is reaffirmed regarding key classical themes relevant to the discipline, such as fundamental rights, forms of state and government, sources of law, electoral systems, and their impact on the functioning of constitutional bodies that shape political direction. Notable developments have emerged in the field of information law and studies on emergency legislation, driven by the pandemic caused by Covid-19.
In the field of administrative law, research is especially focused on the theme of administrative justice. The topic of the development of the legal system, with regard to protections for citizens against public authorities—particularly in light of contemporary challenges—engages the Department's researchers productively. They aim to pursue these research avenues also considering the emergency legislation enacted due to Covid-19. This is a research area at the heart of studies on the state, which also encompasses research in criminal law—especially concerning the relationship between the State and the sanctioning system—as well as in the philosophy of law, with specific interest in bio-political and bio-legal fields.
Studies in tax law also address the aforementioned needs, mainly focusing on the evolutionary processes occurring within the field of tax litigation and the potential reforms needed to adapt the tax system to new economic dynamics, including post-pandemic changes linked to ecological transition. Research in this area has recently experienced substantial growth, partly due to the commendable involvement of trade associations and small to medium-sized enterprises. Similarly, research in labour law will become increasingly important, especially as it becomes more integrated with other overarching themes of the department, notably the ongoing transformation of traditional labour and trade union categories, market integration processes at European and international levels, the effects of migratory phenomena, workplace protection, and the safeguarding of female labour.