Marta Legnaioli is a PhD student in Public Law in her last year at the University of Turin in Italy. Her research concerns the principle of proportionality as a limit to discretionary power in the European legal system and its implications for the Italian administrative figure of abuse of power, the so-called eccesso di potere. As successful candidate in the project Alta Formazione (High Level Training), funded by the European Social Fund, she had the opportunity to extend her research in the sector of European and Italian Public Procurement Law.

In December 2006, Legnaioli obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Law. Under the supervision of Professor Mario Dogliani, she presented her bachelor thesis in Constitutional Law, entitled “Representative Democracy in Recent Politological and Constitutional Doctrine”.

After studying at the University of Turin and at the University of Maastricht, thanks to the Erasmus exchange program, in March 2009 she received her Master’s Degree in Law, concluded with full marks (110 cum laude/110) with a final thesis in Constitutional Law, titled “The Original Institutional Model of the Health Care System”, under the supervision of Professor Mario Dogliani.

During her university career she combined her studies with her job as supervisor of the educational section of the project “Treno della Memoria” promoted by the NGO “Terra del Fuoco”, and then as coordinator of the Scientific Committee of FLARE (Freedom Legality And Rights in Europe).

As Legnaioli concluded her studies she obtained a two-year internship in a law firm. During her PhD she had the opportunity to be tutor of three on-line courses of Public Institutions and Administrative Law held by the Faculty of Law. Finally she worked as researcher on the project “Small municipalities and their experience of associated administration of services” for the Department of Law and the Superior School of Local Public Administration.