Boundaries: between public and private law – Political dimensions of private and public law – Boundaries between domestic law and transnational and international law – Boundaries between law and other disciplines, including economics, comparative politics, normative political theory, and hermeneutic disciplines – National styles of comparative law scholarship – Analytic and pragmatic traditions in comparative law scholarship

An assessment of the balance between ‘the market’ and ‘the social’ by reference to the areas of social policy, the internal market and economic governance – Imbalance resulting from a consitutional displacement of the legislative process (EU and national) and instead decision-making by the judiciary and the executive – Proposals to address the imbalance by reinforcing the role of the EU legislative process and limiting other forms of European integration.

Constitutional right to social assistance in Italy – Lack of a universally-accessible, albeit conditional and means-tested, scheme against absolute poverty – Separation of powers – Textualism – Framers’ original understanding – Living constitutionalism and courts’ relationship with public opinion – Italian, EU and international constraints on citizenship and duration-of-residence requirements – Fiscal sustainability

Judicial independence – Judicial accountability – Court presidents – Judicial politics – Separation of powers – Court administration – Judicial councils – Selection of judges – Czechia – Central Europe

EU Law – Member State liability in damages – Issues of protective scope about exactly which individuals/interests are protected – Conditions for Member State liability – Intention to confer rights criterion – Tendency towards a ‘checklist’ approach by the Court of Justice of the European Union – Potential implications for scope of Member State liability – Finding appropriate balance between protecting individuals and punishing public bodies – Example of free movement rights – Example of environmental legislation – Example of employment legislation