Law In Italy Research Articles

Rita Levi-Montalcini: From Persecution to the Nobel Prize and an Honorary Degree From a Canadian University.

Rita Levi-Montalcini (RLM) is recognized as a prestigious and renowned researcher of her time. She was the fourth woman to earn the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1986 for the discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF). We review her biography and scientific discovery, and provide an example of why her discovery is still important. She had a special relationship with McGill University, Canada, which we describe. We searched for articles and books about her for biographical and scientific material and met with Dr. Claudio Cuello, Former Chair of McGill's Faculty of Medicine. RLM was born in 1909 in Turin, Italy, where she had studied medicine. She started her career in research. Because of the anti-Jewish racial laws in Italy in 1938, she went underground and continued her projects in her bedroom. After the war, she visited St. Louis, USA, and conducted research there. Her experiments confirmed that tumors release a factor that causes nerve growth and cancer proliferation. Initially, scientists responded to this discovery with skepticism, but after its purification in 1959 and determination of its protein structure in 1971, NGF became widely accepted.Currently, crosstalk between cancers and nerves is poorly understood. The example of prostate cancer shows that surgical or chemical denervation of sympathetic nerves prevents the initiation of prostate tumors, whereas inhibition of parasympathetic nerve signaling reduces the spread of prostate cancer. McGill University awarded RLMa doctoral degree in 2011. It was the first time in itshistory that the University awarded an honorary doctorate outside of Canada, and the second one outside of Quebec.Through her discovery of NGF, RLM exemplified the power of passion and determination despite the obstacles she faced. Her relentless dedication has led to remarkable achievements.

The co-design of housing welfare for “Dopo di Noi” of people with disabilities

In Italy Law 112/16, known as Law Dopo di Noi, introduced specific protections in our system to promote the deinstitutionalisation of people with disabilities, allocating economic resources to Regions to realise new housing welfare infrastructures and initiatives to support autonomous living paths, in view of the family support loss and in respect of the individual “Progetto di Vita” (Life project) of people with disabilities. This paper reports results of a research promoted by “Dipartimento per le Politiche in Favore delle Persone con Disabilità” of the Presidency of Council of Ministers, in which tools to support the co-design of housing interventions aimed at social inclusion were elaborated, for the future of people with disabilities.

Canine Euthanasia's Trend Analysis during Thirty Years (1990-2020) in Italy: A Veterinary Hospital as Case Study.

This study aimed to investigate changes in the number of, and reasons for, requests for dogs' euthanasia over the last thirty years. Data (breed, age, gender, neuter status, manner, and cause of death) from dogs' euthanasia registered between 1990 and 2020 in a small animals' veterinary hospital were analyzed. The overall period examined has been split into two terms (T1 = 1990-2004 and T2 = 2005-2020) considering the introduction and enforcement of Law 189/2004. During the whole period examined, a significant increasing trend in euthanasia cases has been recorded (p = 0.027). Comparing the two terms, we observed significant differences regarding variables such as age, breed, reproductive status, and ownership. The number of euthanized dogs was significantly higher in T1 than in T2. Dogs euthanized in T2 were older than dogs in T1. A high percentage of the euthanized dogs were crossbred and stray dogs. Additionally, the number of neutered/spayed dogs was significantly higher. Regarding the cause of death, a significantly higher percentage of neoplastic processes was detected in T2. The data here reported suggest a potential influence of Law 189/2004. This law in Italy has proven to be a legal milestone that has influenced the decision-making process between euthanasia and natural death.

Mussolini and the Jewish Question in the Diaries of Claretta Petacci

The author examines in detail such aspects of the topic as the attitude of the leader of Italian fascism, Benito Mussolini, to representatives of Jewish nationality. The diaries of Mussolini's mistress Claretta Petacci, which she kept from 1932 to 1937, are mainly used as a source. The work also explores the drastic change in B. Mussolini's attitude towards Jews, which occurred after an alliance was concluded with the leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, in 1937. There is a connection between these events, since until 1937 Petacci's diaries said nothing about the Jewish question. The article also examines the attitude of Italian society towards the racial laws of 1938 against Jews, which was not at all unambiguous. As an analytical method, the interpretive approach of the American anthropologist Clifford Geertz will be used, who believed that the analysis of culture is not an experimental matter, but a hermeneutic one, engaged in the search for meanings, symbols and ideas. The scientific novelty of this study lies in a specific consideration of the Jewish question of Mussolini and his study based on the memoirs of his mistress Claretta Petacci. There are not many studies devoted specifically to this issue and specifically to this historical source. The main conclusions of the above study are that it was the alliance concluded in 1937 with Adolf Hitler that radically influenced Benito Mussolini's decision to introduce racial laws in Italy, since the Duce was not much concerned about the Jewish question until 1937. The author of the work also drew conclusions regarding the negative attitude towards anti-Semitic laws by the majority of Italian society: Italians did not accept them due to the lack of anti-Semitism and hostility towards Jews in Italy.

“On not being able to” speak Italian: Linguistic domination and intergenerational trauma

Drawing on autobiographical, biographical and historical materials, this article examines the experience of linguistic domination in the context of Italian Americans’ experience with both the Italian and English languages during the second wave migration to the United States (1880–1924). These accounts are illuminated by the psychoanalytic insights of Marion Milner with a specific focus on her concept of the “framed gap.” To illustrate Milner’s concept of the framed gap, I turn to the linguistic creativity of African-Italian rap artist Anna Maria Gehnyei, known by her stage name Karima 2G. Karima 2G, born in Rome to Liberian parents, is part of a generation of black Italians and Italians of color who are denied citizenship due to restrictive citizenship laws in Italy. While fluent in Italian, Karina 2G intentionally sings in Pidgin English (her parents’ native language) about Italian racism, her Liberian history, and the complex relationships between the United States, Africa and Italy. Her music offers a clear case of creating a diasporic vernacular aesthetics that generates a form of linguistic creativity which performs in opposition to linguistic domination and racial violence.

COVID-19 and female fertility: the flaws of Italian Law 40/2004 on assisted procreation in pandemic times.

SARS-CoV-2 has infected over 614 million people worldwide, killing more than 6.5 million. COVID-19 impact on fertility may have far-reaching ramifications, considering that only in Italy, over 20 million people have been infected, many more considering unconfirmed cases. The authors aimed to outline the repercussions of COVID-19 on female reproductive capabilities, through an analysis of underlying mechanisms and dynamics liable to cause long-term COVID-19 complications and sequelae, including direct virus-induced tissue damage. The entry receptor for SARS-CoV-2, Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) can be found in several tissues and organs within the human body, including ovaries, oocytes and placenta. In order to assess the fertility-damaging potential of the disease, it is necessary to clarify highly complex mechanisms such as the ovarian renin-angiotensin system (OVRAS) affecting ovarian physiology and dysfunction. COVID-19 and its potential to undermine the fertility prospects of millions cannot be underestimated. It is therefore essential for lawmakers to solve inconsistencies such as those in Italy's Law 40/2004, which has been all but dismantled by Constitutional Court and European Court of Human Rights rulings, and cannot therefore offer a sufficient degree of certainty and reliability. When crafting novel, updated standards, norms and regulations to govern access to medically-assisted procreation, national leaders need to take into account the grave threat to fertility in a country such as Italy, which already has one of the world's lowest birth rates, posed by COVID-19 in light of currently available research findings outlining its impact on reproductive capacity.

Un percorso sfidante per la pianificazione forestale in Italia

The recent forestry law in Italy (TUFF) provides that the forest planning system managed by the Regions and the Autonomous Provinces should be, to a certain extent, standardized on a national scale. In this perspective, in order to standardize also the forest planning documents, a specific implementing decree, issued at the end of 2021, provides for common minimum standards at national level. Both the TUFF and the implementing decree are the shared result of a broad and long consultation under both a technical and political profile. However, various regional administrative and technical bodies do not seem fully aware that these decrees do not only set a univocal vision at national level of forest planning tools from a terminological point of view, but also univocally define their technical contents, according to the logic of the minimum national criteria: the Regions and the Autonomous Provinces are now called upon to adapt their regulations and procedures with respect to such terminology and minimum technical contents.

Pursuing a strategy of ‘common benefit’ in business: The adoption of the benefit corporation model in Italy

AbstractA benefit corporation (BC) is a for‐profit company that pursues common benefits for stakeholders. Adopting institutional theory, we analyse the characteristics of the company in relation to the common benefits a BC pursue and how BC model fits with corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices defined in literature. BCs were introduced by a 2016 law in Italy, that was the first European country to approve legislation for BCs, under which a company must indicate its specific common benefit in its articles of association (AoAs). We run a multivariate regression on data from a content analysis on companies' AoA and then use questionnaire data to perform a cluster analysis and interviews to provide additional information. We show that larger and profitable firms focus on customers, while mature firm focus on the environment in the definition of common benefit in AoA. There is resistance to profit sharing. Industry and location specific are important drivers. Among first evidences, it is interesting to see that the most frequent perceived advantage of BC status is differentiation, BC and BCorp do not in practice overlap, and ownership is the main promoter of the change to become BC.

Board dynamics and board tasks empowered by women on boards: evidence from Italy

PurposeThis study aims to examine the effects of board dynamics produced by reaching a certain proportion of women on board tasks (monitoring, strategy and advisory).Design/methodology/approachUsing a panel of 35 listed companies belonging to FTSE-MIB index, for the years 2008–2015, the hypotheses can be tested by applying random effect regressions. The introduction of gender board quota law in Italy has created a quasi-natural experiment that is applied in the study.FindingsThis research provides evidence that reaching 33% women on boards, which is the threshold mandated by the Italian gender board quota law, makes a difference for strategy tasks but not for monitoring tasks. This proportion of women on boards creates the board dynamics necessary to empower all board members, allowing the varied knowledge, skills, backgrounds and personal qualities to be leveraged and used in strategy tasks. For monitoring tasks, obtaining a proportion of 20% women on boards, as a first threshold enforced by the law, is enough to voice their opinion during board meetings and challenge management.Originality/valueThe results show that each set of board tasks requires different dynamics trigged by a specific proportion between a minority (women) and a dominant subgroup (men). To enhance monitoring tasks performance, it is enough to reach a proportion between men and women which makes the women less isolated and more inclined to speak up during the board meetings. In the case of strategy tasks, the improved performance is achieved when the dominant group enticed to hear women’s opinions and responsive to various perspectives. This paper expands the debates going beyond monitoring tasks, showing the importance of board dynamics for engagement in strategy and advisory tasks.

“Plus Ça Change, Plus C’est la Même Chose”: State Immunity and International Crimes in Judgment No. 20442/2020 of the Corte di Cassazione

Abstract The Corte di Cassazione, with judgment No. 20442/2020, faced again the issue of German compensations for the victims of international crimes perpetrated by the Third Reich, ruling that immunity of Germany cannot be recognized in claims brought by the victims, or by their heirs, before the Italian courts. At first reading, the decision seems not to have added anything new to the domestic case law in Italy following judgment No. 238/2014 of the Corte Costituzionale. However, an in-depth analysis shows that there are two key points expressed by the Corte di Cassazione: the due effect of judgment No. 238/2014 and the overlap of the arguments used in the Italian judgments after 238/2014 and those prior to ICJ Judgment of 3 February 2012. At any rate, the problem of German compensation is still far from being resolved. The only way to reach the longed-for diplomatic solution would be a judgment similar to 238/2014 on the immunity of States’ properties from measures of constraint.

Cultural Expertise in Civil Law in Italy

This paper emphasises the use of cultural knowledge and cultural expertise in court, with specific reference to civil proceedings. It adopts background scenarios characterised by the presence of ex officio judicial powers that introduce knowledge into trials regarding family and juvenile proceedings, guardianship of ill and elderly people, and immigration and asylum proceedings. The assumption of this paper is that when a situation involving intercultural elements is brought to the attention of the court, the usual background knowledge of the judge may be insufficient to render meaningful judgement. In this situation, thanks to ex officio powers (in introducing facts, gathering evidence, raising legal and factual questions), the judge should be able to establish the elements to be examined through the lens of cultural diversity. The paper uses examples to illustrate judicial practices and then draws a set of initial conclusions about the status of cultural expertise in Italian civil procedures, the challenges of the present, and initiatives to be taken in a short-term perspective (training, panels of experts, deontological requirements for experts).

Current management of cancer pain in Italy: Expert opinion paper.

IntroductionChronic pain and breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP) have a high prevalence in all cancer types and cancer stages, combined with a significant physical, psychological, and economic burden. Despite efforts to improve appropriate management of cancer pain, a poor assessment and guilty undertreatment are still reported in many countries. The purpose of this expert opinion paper is to contribute to reduce and clarify these issues with a multidisciplinary perspective in order to share virtuous paths of care.MethodsCommon questions about cancer pain assessment and treatment were submitted to a multidisciplinary pool of Italian clinicians and the results were subsequently discussed and compared with the findings of the published literature.ConclusionDespite a dedicated law in Italy and effective treatments available, a low percentage of specialists assess pain and BTcP, defining the intensity with validated tools. Moreover, in accordance with the findings of the literature in many countries, the undertreatment of cancer pain is still prevalent. A multidisciplinary approach, more training programs for clinicians, personalised therapy drug formulations, and virtuous care pathways will be essential to improve cancer pain management.

Intended and unintended effects of specialized regulation on microfinance institutions’ double‐bottom line management

AbstractTaking advantage of the passage of a microfinance law in Italy (2014), we explore the rationales for introducing microfinance‐specific regulation in high‐income welfare states and the potential effects that this process may have on MFIs’ social and financial performances (i.e. double bottom line). Our findings suggest that the institutional transformation of MFIs, in addition to product design and target group required by the new regulation, has unintendedly shifted their balance in favor of financial over social performance. This mainly applies to non‐profit organizations and cooperatives. Microfinance‐specific regulation in high‐income welfare states may reflect the emerging trends of market‐based rationality of public policy. When regulatory arrangements for MFIs are stipulated irrespectively of MFIs’ original mission the structural causes of financial exclusion may be reinforced. The underlying rationales for this trade‐off should be considered to prevent and mitigate the unintended effects of microfinance‐specific regulation.

Marco Longobardo and Marco Roscini, Review of Giulio Bartolini (ed.), A History of International Law in Italy

Marco Longobardo and Marco Roscini, Review of Giulio Bartolini (ed.), A History of International Law in Italy

A History of International Law in Italy, edited by Giulio Bartolini

A History of International Law in Italy, edited by Giulio Bartolini

Il consenso nel <em>wound care</em>: analisi della giurisprudenza e proposta di un modello per singolo trattamento

Nel 2017 il consenso informato è stato ulteriormente definito per legge, mentre nel 2018 è stato regolamentato il trattamento dei dati personali, nel 2019, infine, una serie di sentenze della Corte di Cassazione civile hanno ulteriormente chiarito le responsabilità inerenti un’omessa o incompleta informazione del paziente. L’analisi della giurisprudenza ha messo alla luce una zona d’ombra: ovvero gli obblighi informativi del personale non-medico nei confronti del paziente in quelle discipline, quale il wound care, in cui tali professionisti hanno ampi spazi di autonomia nell’ambito della prescrizione medica. Tale lavoro si prefigge di analizzare la situazione e fornire un modello di consenso per ogni professionista che si occupa della cura delle ferite complesse.

New 2018 Legislation for MAP in Italy

National laws governing the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAP) sector in Italy were first established in 1931 and other legislative actions followed in the years immediately thereafter. In 2018, a revision of the early legislation was finally released after many years and input from all involved in the sector. This work, a part of other MAP research in the Piedmont Region of northwest Italy, describes the 2018 legislation, compares and contrasts it with the 1931 law, and considers its potential to impact and create opportunities in the sector. Although products named botanicals are not regulated by the 2018 MAP law in Italy, the legislation governing the category is discussed in order to provide a comprehensive review of regulatory intervention for officinal plants. The goal of this work is to educate Italian MAP sector researchers and public/private operators of the legislative changes and its implications. The analysis highlights that the 2018 legislation embraces continued expansion of the sector by providing goals and oversight for the process.

Sumptuary Laws in Italy and England (the Middle of the 13th – the End of the 14th Century)

Sumptuary Laws in Italy and England (the Middle of the 13th – the End of the 14th Century)

Does the gender quota law affect bank performances? Evidence from Italy

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact of an increasing board diversity on the performance of Italian listed banks for the period 2008–2014, taking into account the effects of the implementation of gender quota laws in Italy. The study also investigates the effects of this potential relationship during the crisis that Italy had to cope with since 2011, as well as the potential impact of female directors and their roles on bank boards.Design/methodology/approachTo verify this relationship, the study uses a panel sample of 22 listed banks and applies fixed effects with the Driscoll-Kraay error. Considering the shareholders’ perspective, bank performance (BP) is measured by return on average equity. The robustness of results is verified through return on average assets, Tobin’s Q (a market measure from investors/stakeholders’ perspective) and an alternate estimation model, i.e. GMM.FindingsThe findings highlight a positive relationship between the performance accounting measures and gender diversity, a non-neutral impact of the presence of female directors on boards and a significant and negative effect on market measures.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of the study, as far as accounting measures are concerned, support managerial and legislative efforts toward more gender-balanced boards and the appointment of female directors in executive or independent roles. As per market measures, the results suggest that the presence of women on boards should be considered advantageous in terms of value, so that the market can finally appreciate diverse bank boards.Originality/valueFirst, previous studies did not provide exhaustive results to document the proposed relationship and did not examine this relationship during a financial crisis. Second, the role of female directors on boards is also taken into account. Third, the study highlighted that BP is a multi-dimensional construct, with accounting and market metrics being its distinct dimensions.

Covid-19 and labour law in Italy

This article provides an account of the Italian response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the labour law field. The author focuses on the policy measures in the matters of income support, parental leave, rest and holiday leave, agile working (i.e. teleworking), dismissal, as well as on the special provisions arranged by the social partners and later adopted by the legislator to preserve the health and safety of the employees and also to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the workplace. Ultimately, the author hints at the potential development of employee participation in Italy in the wake of the upsurge of social dialogue during the coronavirus emergency.