Welcoming Paola Severino, lawyer and former Italian Minister of Justice as the keynote speaker for the Freedom and Justice event, which is the first meeting in the Lessons on Freedom series.
The four part Lessons on Freedom series is dedicated to the ideas of freedom, explored through different perspectives.
Following Severino’s lecture, the philosopher of law and former University of Padua Rector Giuseppe Zaccaria is welcomed to the stage. The meeting concludes with readings by the students of the school of the Teatro Verdi.
The lecture begins with a passage reading from Franz Kafka’s 1915 novel “Before the Law.” The audience is encouraged to reflect upon the current state of Italy’s criminal justice system by reflecting on the past and the future in light of the recent ideas of implementing the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Organized to celebrate the University’s 800th Anniversary, each meeting from the Lessons on Freedom series is held on Sunday mornings in March at Padua’s Teatro Verdi.
To participate, registration for the event is required on the Teatro Stabile del Veneto.
Paola Severino is President of the National School of Administration, Emeritus Professor of Criminal Law, and Vice President of The Luiss Guido Carli University where she previously held the position of Rector and Deputy Vice-Rector. She is the co-chair of the Scientific Committee and representative of Italian citizens for the Conference on the Future of Europe. She is a chair of the Supervisory board of the PNRR set up at the MUR. In 2016, she became a member of the Council of the Order “Merit of the Italian Republic” and awarded the honor of Knight of the Grand Cross. In March 2019, she was appointed Chevalier de la Légion d ‘ Honneur . In June 2018, she was awarded an Honorary Degree in Law by the University of Glasgow. She was Special Representative of the OSCE Chairmanship for Fighting Corruption from January 2018 to December 2020, Minister of Justice in the Monti government, and Vice-President of the Superior Council of the Military Judiciary from 1997 to 2001. Admitted to the Bar since 1977, she is a cassation lawyer.