A short presentation of the book
The judgment of the Navarra Superior Court of Justice, issued on 30 November 2018, concerns the appeals – filed by the defendants and by the Prosecutor – against the first instance judgment rendered by the Audiencia Provincial of the same region, on 20 March 2018, about the case of group sexual abuse perpetrated on 7 July 2016 known as "la Manada case". The Spanish Supreme Court of cassation will assess if rape occurred (the Prosecutor already announced an appeal against the second instance decision): in this "second chapter of la Manada case" a majority of three judges of the panel clearly concluded that a sexual abuse to the detriment of the victim took place, while the remaining two judges in their dissenting opinion strongly affirmed that a proper rape was perpetrated, so embracing the idea of background intimidation sustained by the victim's defence counsel as well as by the feminist movement since the very beginning of the criminal proceedings
Text of the speech (already published in the official website of the Italian Constitutional Court: see https://www.cortecostituzionale.it/documenti/varie/albi/vigano_albi.pdf) given by Francesco Viganò at the quadrilateral meeting of the French Conseil Constitutionnel and the constitutional courts of Italy, Spain and Portugal held in Albi, France on the 28 September 2018.
The paper presents the main judgments in constitutional-criminal law matters by the Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court Anthony Kennedy (who served from 1988 to 2018). The peculiar role of “Swing Justice” between conservative and liberal ones made his dynamic-evolutive approach in interpreting some constitutional clauses (cruel and unusual punishment clause under the 8th Amendment and due process clauses under 5th and 14th Amendment) a sort of balancing factor for the Court itself, enhancing the constitutional safeguards in certain areas of substantive criminal law (sanctioning and prisons, in particular). The turnover with Justice Kavanaugh, establishing a conservative majority – in conclusion – could jeopardize many results obtained insofar, affecting even the underlying fundamental principles of dignity, humanity and civilisation
A short presentation of the book
During the last two decades, in Italy the fight against corruption resulted into several kinds of confiscation of crime proceeds, having very different conditions and rules. The overall rationale of the said diversification is based on efficiency and it could jeopardise fundamental safeguards of criminal law as well as the rule of law
The conclusion of the Taricco case, by virtue of the Constitutional Court recent judgment no. 115 of 2018, offers on the one hand the chance to analyse the dialogue between the Constitutional Court and the EU Court of Justice about the non-applicability - to the detriment of the accused person - of the domestic rules on the statutes of limitations. On the other hand, the said decision represents an occasion to reflect on the domestic and supranational evolution of the criminal law principle of legality as well as the need to avoid vagueness of criminal provisions
A few days ago, the Italian Constitutional law issued its first decision on assisted suicide, in a case concerning a civil rights activist who had accompanied a tetraplegic young man to a Swiss clinic, where he was helped to die. The Court held that the existing criminal legislation, which sets forth a general prohibition to assist anyone to commit suicide, is overbroad in respect to (i) patients suffering from an incurable disease (ii) that causes them severe and subjectively intolerable pain and distress, and (iii) are kept alive by life-sustaining treatments, but (iv) retain full mental capacity. However, in view of the necessity of a detailed regulation of the matter, the Court refrained for the moment from declaring void the provision, and adjourned the case to a new hearing next year, in order to give Parliament the opportunity to establish an appropriate legislative framework, in line with the principles set forth in the decision
Corporate criminal liability of small businesses aims at deterrence. In order to be compliant, however, these companies bear proportionally higher costs than medium-large companies: such a problem can be solved through collective actions and IT
Laudatio presented at Cesare Beccaria’s Medal award ceremony by the Sociedad Internacional de Defensa Social, held in Salamanca on the 4 of October 2018