Italian Penal Code Research Articles

Accidental Detection of Cocaine in Urine in Pediatric Patients: Case Series and Literature Review

Infantile occult exposure to cocaine in domestic environments represents a complex clinical and medico-legal problem, which can be associated with abuse and neglect and with potential short- and long-term health risks for children. The authors present a retrospective study on 764 children under 14 years old who accessed the Emergency Department of IRCCS Meyer from 2016 to 2023 and were included in the GAIA (Child and Adolescent Abuse Group) protocol for suspected maltreatment and abuse, and for which a urine toxicology analysis was performed. The aim is to discuss the medico-legal implications and highlight the need for a thorough evaluation and management of such situations. Urine screening tests for substances of abuse (e.g., cocaine, opiates, etc.) were performed with an EMIT® Siemens VIVA-E drug testing system (Siemens, Newark DE) in 124 cases for which the child’s clinical condition raised suspicion of intoxication, or the family context indicated distress or substance abuse dependency. The screening results revealed the presence of cocaine and its main metabolite, benzoylecgonine, in the urine of 11 children. In one case, a single girl was brought to the Emergency Department by staff from the facility where she and her mother were staying. In most of the cases, children were brought to the Emergency Department by their parents who accessed the Emergency Department due to various clinical manifestations (drowsiness, agitation, seizures, hypotonia, diarrhea, vomiting, etc.), except for one case of eye trauma suspected to be caused by abuse or neglect by one of the parents. Three of the children did not have signs or symptoms attributable to substance exposure, whilst eight of the cases presented some of the symptoms associated with occult infant exposure to cocaine, such as neurological manifestations, seizures, gastrointestinal symptoms, and respiratory depression. The probable mode of intake was mostly through breastfeeding and continuous environmental exposure due to domestic contamination or inhalation of “crack”. In the case of a 12-hour-old infant, there was probable prenatal in utero exposure. All the children were hospitalized, some for medical reasons and others solely as a precautionary measure for proper care. In all cases, a report was made to the Prosecutors as required by the Italian Penal Code, as well as to the Court of Minor. The study highlighted the importance of a multidisciplinary approach involving pediatricians, social workers, and forensics, as well as close collaboration with the relevant authorities, as the Gaia service at IRCCS Meyer offers. The occasional detection of cocaine in cases that showed no suspicion of intoxication led to a modification of the procedure and the development of a standardized protocol at IRCCS Meyer both in terms of prevention and in the detection and interception of hidden cases, in order to intervene early and initiate the necessary care pathways (secondary prevention). This protocol includes routine toxicological urine testing in all suspected or confirmed cases of child abuse, not just in those where symptoms might suggest a suspicion of intoxication.

Griffith and Dante

Sir Samuel Walker Griffith (1845–1920) is distinguished as the first Australian translator of Italy’s ‘Supreme Poet’, Dante Alighieri (1265–1321). This article considers how Griffith’s entanglement with Dante casts light on the Queensland–Italian connection. First, it sketches the concept of entangled history and entanglement, an evolving transcultural historiographic approach. Second, it canvasses how entangled history can assist in appraising implications of Griffith’s recently contested legacy as Premier of Queensland. Third, it outlines points of convergence between Griffith and Dante, beginning with Griffith’s translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Fourth, it extends this lens on convergence to Griffith’s and Dante’s common dimensions that include Griffith’s Italophilia, and the experience of divisive, factional and fractious politics. Fifth, it narrows to consider the limited justice of contrapasso in Dante’s treatment of crime and punishment. Finally, it traverses codified justice that features in Griffith’s entanglement with Dante and the Italian Penal Code – Griffith translated Dante when drafting Queensland’s ground-breaking Criminal Code and when referencing the Italian Penal Code as a source therein. This article proposes that Griffith’s translational project was not simply a vehicle for sharpening his Italian or pursuing fame or status per se, but was a lifelong creative pursuit that offered imaginative, intellectual applications resonating with his public service values. Whatever impelled Griffith’s translations, his appreciation of Dante clearly instances Queensland–Italian interconnectedness.

Medical Professional Liability in Obstetrics and Gynecology: A Pilot Study of Criminal Proceedings in the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Rome.

Criminal trials and claims against physicians for malpractice-related damages have increased dramatically in recent years, and, with Obstetrics and Gynecology being one of the medical specialties that is at the highest risk, we carried out a retrospective analysis aimed at examining all Obstetrics- and Gynecology-related medical professional liability prosecutions within the General Register of Criminal Records of the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office between the years 2000 and 2014. The number of prosecutions increased steadily in the years 2000-2005, with varying trends in the following years. A total of 727 healthcare professionals were involved in criminal charges, and most prosecuted crimes were related to Articles 590 and 589 of the Italian Penal Code, followed by violations of Article 17 of Law 194/78. In most cases, filing was requested and granted without opposition. In 95 cases, an expert witness was appointed by the Court, and in 68 cases, the technical consultants of the State Prosecutor found culpable conduct. Public hospitals, private nursing homes and outpatient clinics, or private practices were mostly involved; in 45% of the cases, the physicians were hospital employees. In this setting, Italy is prepared to introduce new measures and regulations to address the issues posed by defensive medicine and charges of professional liability for healthcare providers.

Esporre «integralmente la dottrina» e regolarsi «secondo l’opportunità»

The Italian Risorgimento process saw the Apostolic Penitentiary, generally accustomed to operating with great confidentiality, rising to a prominent ‘public’ role. It was in the context of the Roman Question that the Holy See had to deal with the introduction of the new Italian Penal Code (commonly called ‘Zanardelli Code’), which was approved in June 1889 and came into force at the beginning of the following year. This article offers a reconstruction of the reaction of the Apostolic Penitentiary and the Holy See to the publication of the Code.

Inciting Military Disaffection in Interwar Britain and Fascist Italy: Security, Crime and Authoritarian Law

Abstract During the interwar period, two apparently different states, liberal democratic Britain and Fascist Italy, passed similar legislation establishing inchoate offences against military loyalty and obedience. These laws, the Incitement to Disaffection Act 1934 and article 266 of the 1930 Italian Penal Code, were intended to protect state security and the monopoly of force against political threats. This article compares these laws’ scope, rationales and purposes, and traces their longer-term origins in the consolidation of the modern state. It argues that this comparative historical analysis evidences important intersections in these systems’ uses of criminal law, and provides insights into the forms and extent of authoritarian tendencies and techniques in states’ legal practices, specifically in the security context and more generally within criminal law as a vector of state power across the political spectrum.

ORGANISED CRIME: UNDERGROUND ECONOMY AND REGULATIONS TO COMBAT CYBERCRIME

Criminal organizations, with the advent of new information technologies, have found additional ways and spaces through which to commit crimes, especially in online hidden markets and through new means of laundering illicit proceeds. The opening of these new illegal markets has helped to increase the capital of criminal organizations which, if spread and rooted in the territory, can influence the various spheres of politics and decision-making processes of an entire country. Despite the seriousness of the threat, organised crime is not sufficiently understood. Although regulatory interventions and actions to prevent and combat cybercrimes perpetrated by organised crime have been implemented, through the international collaboration of the police forces with the various investigative agencies, the individual states intend to maintain full sovereignty in the area of criminal justice; all this leads to a lack of uniformity between both national and European institutions in the area of organized crime, while adequate regulation is still lacking in the dark web. In the light of the exponential increase in online criminal activity in recent years and even 25% between the first and second quarter of 2020 due to the coronavirus emergency, it is therefore essential that the individual Member States put aside uncertainties, exploiting the European Union as a fulcrum in the fight against transnational organised crime. A common solution would be to criminalize access to some areas of the Onion Routing, integrate the provisions of the article 416 of the Penal Code to apply them also to the digital context and establish the crime of mafia-type criminal association in the European legislative landscape as explained in article 416-bis of the Italian Penal Code.
 
 Interpol; Europol; Postal police; Criminal law; Darknet

Dishonourable women? Infanticide and honour in Basilicata, 1880–1914

ABSTRACT In late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Italy, after conceiving an illegitimate child, women sometimes committed infanticide to restore their honour. The Italian Penal Code even included an honour excuse to justify such crimes, which could lead to a mitigated sentence. Using cases of infanticide from the southern Italian region of Basilicata, this article explores use of the honour excuse among women accused of infanticide. While the excuse was invoked in all infanticide cases, the statements and testimony from the proceedings show that saving their honour was not always the primary concern. Honour was tied to many other aspects of daily life, including the family’s reputation in society and its economic position. An examination of these cases shows that in committing infanticide and claiming the honour excuse, the accused women were largely motivated by social and economic consequences of dishonourable actions.

Cultural Expertise in Italian Criminal Justice: From Criminal Anthropology to Anthropological Expert Witnessing

This article traces the rise and fall of psychiatric evaluation in criminal trials from the School of Criminal Anthropology of the late nineteenth century to the current Italian justice system. Influenced by positivism and by specific theories on human evolution, Cesare Lombroso considered criminal action as the result of organic causes excluding any kind of legal autonomy and responsibility of the accused. The Positive School of Penal Law he founded with Enrico Ferri and Raffaele Garofalo profoundly inspired the Rocco Code, on which the current Italian Penal Code is still based, albeit with revisions and repeals. Drafted in 1930 during the fascist government (1922–1943), the latter has also suffered from racial ideology. In order to assess potential mental illnesses that would exclude the responsibility of the accused, to determine their level of dangerousness and to establish the corresponding security measures introduced by the Rocco Code, Italian criminal justice consolidated the link between penal law and psychiatric instruments. Such faith in psychiatric evaluation, however, has been particularly questioned by the increasing frequency of judicial processes involving members of different cultural communities in Italy since the 1970s. Thus, the predominantly pathological aspects evaluated by forensic psychiatrists have often proved to be conceptually and methodologically inadequate to take fully into account the differences between cultures, as well as the different social and cultural conditions affecting the defendant’s behaviour. This paper argues that cultural anthropology is particularly suited as an instrument capable of disclosing the cultural implications of the legal process and encourages the use of cultural expertise as an important tool for the inclusiveness and understanding of diversity.

A Função da “Personalidade do Estado” na Elaboração Penal do Fascismo Italiano: laesae maiestas e tecnicismo-jurídico no Código Rocco (1930)

O presente artigo discute a função da personalidade jurídica atribuída ao Estado no Código Penal Italiano de 1930 para a instituição de categorias autoritárias e totalizantes. Para isso, buscou-se inicialmente localizar a importância do Código no itinerário fascista de imposição de poder. Foram analisadas quais funções do direito penal foram flexibilizadas, ignoradas ou atribuídas. Por meio da ressignificação da expressão laesa maiestas, focou-se na relação entre a nova figura do Estado no contexto do Código Penal e o deslocamento de tutela de reconhecimento de bens jurídicos posterior, em especial no que se refere à virada punitivista, que coloca o indivíduo como alvo e como possível ameaça e não mais como sujeito da tutela jurídica. Por fim, foram analisados os institutos maculados de forma mais visível por essa característica e sua reminiscência na atual legislação penal italiana.

The Italian Criminal Court of Padova sentenced the circus’ director for cruelty to animals

On July 13th, 2016 the Italian Criminal Court of Padova issued an eight-month sentence to the director of the Medrano Circus for cruelty to animals as per article 544 ter of the Italian Penal Code.

L’introduzione della legge 41/2016 in tema di omicidio e di lesioni personali stradali: aspetti medico-legali e analisi della giurisprudenza

[The introduction of the law 41/2016 on vehicular homicide and road traffic injuries: medical-legal issues and analysis of case law] The law n. 41/2016 has recently introduced, into the Italian penal code, articles n. 589-bis and 590-bis that concern vehicular homicide and road traffic personal injuries. Although this leads to a tightening of the penalties, today a lot of criticities still remains; in particular, the assessment of the psychophysical condition of the driver and relative applying procedures. These problematic issues have already been highlighted under a medico-legal perspective and today emerge also from an acquittal or conviction sentences that, arising from equivalent evidences, are interpreted in divergent or even antithetical ways.

Risk assessment of fuel quantity indicator replacement in ATR 72 aircraft

Aircraft maintenance activities are rife with opportunities for error. The concurrent in-flight failure of all of the engines of a non-scheduled airline flight and the following list of human lives highlight one of these opportunities. As commonly recognized among flight operators, each flight safety agency follows the criteria of the International Civil Aviation Organization Annex 16 in which all the evidences of the technical investigation pave the way for avoiding future flight accidents or incidents. On the other hand, when the Italian penal procedure code was applied for the Tuninter aircraft ATR 72 (identification code TS-LBB) crash at issue on 6 August 2005 near Palermo (Italy), the investigation is also carried out for finding (if concurrent or not) the personal and professional responsibilities. This was the task of the first author (R.M.A.M.). Now, this article briefly reports the findings of the investigation and discusses more in detail how both human factors of design and human factors in the published instructions for the completion of a maintenance task contributed to this accident.

Ensaio sobre novas questões filosóficas extraídas do direito

Este artigo é uma homenagem a Leibniz e a sua obra da juventude Specimen quaestionum philosophicarum ex iure collectarum (“Ensaio de questões filosóficas extraídas do direito”). Neste texto, Leibniz, no início de sua carreira como filósofo e como jurista apresenta a sua (para a época e provavelmente ainda hoje) tese audaciosa de que o direito se oferece espontaneamente à filosofia seja pelo que há nele de intrinsecamente filosófico, seja porque “muitíssimos lugares do direito, sem a condução desta, seriam um labirinto inextricável”. No rastro destas teses leibnizianas, o artigo se concentra em três normas do ordenamento jurídico italiano: o art. 1189 do Código Civil italiano (pagamento ao credor aparente); o art. 47 del Código Penal italiano (erro de fato), e o art. 533 do Código de Processo Penal italiano (dúvida razoável). De cada um desses artigos é analisado o alcance filosófico implícito.O primeiro artigo nos leva diretamente ao problema da dicotomia entre realidade e aparência; o segundo põe o problema da nossa representação da realidade, enquanto o terceiro levanta questões acerca da diferença entre dúvida possível e dúvida razoável. Em todos os três casos são também sugeridas algumas possíveis implicações jurisprudenciais da relativa leitura filosófica.

Terminology of the Penal Code Procedure - Options of Translation in Albanian and German

The Justice, be it civil or penal should be forwarded through a particular form of language. This linguistic form can be orally and in written form as in the case of different linguistic processes, as well as in only written form as in the case of translation of laws or legal provisions. Discussion on legal right and right’s judgment, are processes transmitted with the help of language, which are based on texts such as decisions based on language. Language content of these texts is crucial. An equally important role is taken therefore by oral interpreters and those who translate written texts from one language to another. Translators (interpreters) forward the language content in linguistic processes between the defendant in the trial and the plaintiff. But how is it possible to correctly translate the content of a text in written or oral form? What can the translator do in cases of uncertainty? In order to give a possible answer to these questions, the following paper will try to address the following issues: - Brief historical overview of the Albanian code of penal procedure: In this way we can better understand the present status of the penal code procedure in our country, whose history becomes quite often the cause of the problems for the translator. The first Albanian penal code was written in 1925. It was conceived based on the Italian penal code procedures at that time. It was approved in 1927 and in 1928 entered into force. In 1948, was written a part of penal code which was totally completed in 1952. In 1977 was compiled a new Albanian Constitution. After the fall of the communist regime, in 1993 we have some minor amendments of the Constitution, while in 1995 comes out the new penal code procedure under the guidance of specialists in the field from Western countries. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v4n1s1p69

47, XYY Karyotype and Borderline Personality Disorder: An Italian Judicial Case and a Review of the Literature

During the 1960s and the 1970s, some studies postulated that Jacobs' Syndrome can lead to aggressive and/or criminal behavior, but the statistical certainty was questioned. In the 1990s new discoveries in neuroscience and genetics brought new attention to a possible biological component of deviance. In this context forensic psychiatrists were required to express opinions about a young Italian man afflicted by 47,XYY karyotype (Jacobs’ Syndrome) and Borderline Personality Disorder who had frequent violent behaviors against his relatives, being therefore accused of “abuse against family members or partners” (art. 572 Italian Penal Code). The Court disposed for an evaluation of his mental conditions, his imputability and his possible social dangerousness, analyzing the influences on behavior from both his mental and genetic conditions.

Elder abuse awareness in Italy: analysis of reports to the Prosecutor Office of Bologna.

In Italy, the prevalence of elder abuse is estimated from 10 to 12.7 %. Even if the elderly are not specifically protected by the Italian Penal Code, it contains several articles punishing crimes against disadvantaged groups in which elders may be included. Article 572 about mistreatment of family members or cohabitants, and article 643 about circumvention of incapable best fit elder abuse or neglect and financial fraud and exploitation, respectively. To evaluate the prevalence of reported elder abuse in Bologna and province (Italy) compared to available data on prevalence obtained by population-based surveys. Reports to the Prosecutor Office about articles 572 and 643 in the period from 2000 to 2013 were collected and analyzed according to victim's age at the report time. For article 572 a total of 3,713 reports were found. The prevalence of reports ranged from 0.005 to 0.024 % for victims older than 65 years. Concerning article 643 a total of 786 reports were detected, with a prevalence ranging from 0.007 to 0.016 % for victims older than 65 years. A large gap was found between reported crimes related to elder abuse and the estimated prevalence of elder abuse in Italy. Our results showed that in Italy efforts to improve strategic approach on elder abuse as well as research at various levels following the examples of other abusive situations are needed in both health and legal systems.

Un Code Pénal Pour l'Unité Italienne: le code Zanardelli (1889) – La Genèse, le Débat, le Projet Juridique

This article analyzes the process of formation of the 1st Italian penal code after the political unification of the country, called Zanardelli code of 1889. An analysis that contextualizes the encoding not only of the chronology of political events, but also, for example, in the Italian criminal law science of the XIX century. A science of criminal law - known under the name of classical school - characterized by having raised some flags as the abolition of the death penalty, one of the appointed aspects, inclusive, such factor that hindered the legislative unification process in the criminal area. Finally, as an epilogue addresses the criticism of the positive school who opposed the liberal tendencies of the newly enacted code. A criminal liberalism, however, is seen in its ambiguity: within a liberal code, for example, hard devices to combat political dissent, and rules extra codicem that mitigated some safeguards enshrined in the code.

Crime and Mental Illness: Impulsivity and Jealousy in a Case of Uxoricide

Psychiatry has always played both a clinical and controller role of social dangerousness, in a culturally accepted vision. This variety of roles appears to be much more evident when psychiatry aims to study the relationships between aggressiveness, impulsivity, mental illness and crime. In those cases, psychiatrists must assess the capability to judge when a crime is committed, that is to say the imputability of a culprit affected by a mental illness, (articles 88 and 89 of the Italian Penal Code). There are cases in which a culprit suffers of a “major” mental illness, such as those belonging to the Axis I of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-Text Revision (DSM IV-TR), or those which the classic psychopathology describes as schizophrenic psychosis or manic-depressive psychosis, but the culprit’s capability to distinguish between right and wrong is not impaired; a culprit is affected by a “minor” personality disorder, according to the DSM-IV, or by a psychopathic personality according to the old psychopathologic definition, but the capability to judge may be impaired in different ways. In the following work, we are going to explore the psychopathological profile of a borderline personality disorder in a case of uxoricide: the motive of the crime is jealousy and it’s carrying out arises from impulsivity that is a distinctive trait of this kind of personality. The psychopathological assessment was performed through several clinical interviews for the anamnestic data collection and the diagnostic classification and through a psycho-diagnostic protocol including the Rorschach test and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2).

Violence in Fascist Criminal Law Discourse: War, Repression and Anti-Democracy

This article constructs a critical historical, political and theoretical analysis of the essence of Fascist criminal law discourse in terms of the violence that shaped and characterised it. The article examines the significance of violence in key declarations about the role and purpose of criminal law by Alfredo Rocco, Fascist Minister of Justice and leading ideologue, in his principal speech on the final draft of the 1930 Italian Penal Code. It is grounded on the premise that criminal law is particularly significant for understanding the relationship between State power and individuals, and so what was distinctive about Fascist thinking in this regard. The article analyses Rocco’s declarations as a discourse in order to highlight their contextual foundations, construction and ideological connections. It argues that the core theme of that discourse is violence, which has three principal dimensions: a close historical and rhetorical connection with war, a focus on repressive and intimidatory force, and a paramount concern with subordinating individuals to State interests. The article then uses this analysis to develop a theoretical reading of the nexus between criminal law and violence in Fascism, in terms of its foundations and reversal of ends and means. The article thus provides an original perspective on Fascism and criminal law, which it argues is important for critical engagement with criminal law discourse in our democracies today.

Tainted law? The Italian Penal Code, Fascism and democracy

AbstractThe current Italian Penal Code is the direct descendant of the 1930 Rocco Code. Originally a hybrid of authoritarian and liberal elements, but revised and reinterpreted in the postwar Republic, the Code was nevertheless introduced under the Fascists and has not been definitively replaced or renamed. Given such roots, this article argues that the Code's legitimacy can be questioned by considering the significance of the Fascist past in terms of the Code's symbolic, contextually narrative and memorial dimensions. On this basis the article develops a concept of tainted law in order to ground and direct analysis of law in relation to the anti-democratic past, arguing that critical engagement with the connections between law and the darker episodes of twentieth-century politico-legal history is vital to the construction and conservation of democratic legal systems today.