Causality in Italian Criminal Law

Abstract

Modern Italian criminal law doctrine is dominated by the concept of equivalence of conditions as interpreted in the context of «scientific theory» developed in German theory in the 19th century. It is believed that when establishing a causal relationship, it is necessary to use the method of exclusion, focusing primarily on data from the natural sciences, then on data from other sciences and the maxims of general experience. When establishing a causal relationship, the determining factor is the probability of the occurrence of a consequence, while the question of the degree of probability remains controversial. The theories of adequate causation and human causation are rejected by Italian criminal law doctrine. The German theory of objective imputability is considered in the legal literature, it has supporters, but in practice, it is not accepted. The shortcomings of the «scientific theory» of causation are due to methodological errors. Causality is not a scientific category, but a philosophical one. Different sciences, natural and otherwise, have different criteria for establishing a causal relationship that are suitable for these sciences. In the natural sciences, repeatability, which can be assessed statistically, is of decisive importance for establishing a causal relationship. It is impossible to mechanically transfer the methodology of natural sciences to jurisprudence.