The syllabi of many Universities in Italy and abroad demonstrate that the study of comparative and foreign law has grown enormously and that there are more and more courses being taught in English in countries that do not belong to the common law tradition. Students are now aware of the fact that if they decide to pursue an international career they need to be equipped with the legal knowledge to be able to operate "across borders" and this is true for the realms of both public law and private law. At the same time language is still a barrier in fully understanding the intricacies of a given legal system. This is the very reason for our deciding to meet this challenge and provide students with a comprehensive introduction to Italian public law in English. This was a far from easy task considering the substantial differences between Italy's legal system and those of the countries in the English-speaking world: this explains why many of the chapters begin with a terminological premise so as to avoid the misunderstanding of certain fundamental concepts and notions. Furthermore, although this textbook is devoted to Italian public law, ample references to comparative law are made in all the chapters. Fortunately, our work has been made easier thanks to over twenty years of experience in teaching classes in English on Italian and Comparative Public Law at Bocconi University. Some invaluable lessons have been learnt from students attending these courses and we believe that this textbook goes to some length in overcoming the many difficulties they have encountered in trying to fully grasp this subject. Indeed, it is to those many students that we dedicate this textbook.
