Criminal Economic Law (2013/2014)

Learning outcomes

The course deals with a specific sector of criminal law, which is in constant evolution and of particular relevance in today's economic and social life. It is very receptive of the changes in the business and work world, on the one hand, and of the criminal policy guidelines, prevailing in different moments or periods in the history, on the other hand. Today it is strongly influenced by the need for harmonization with EU law, that is a source of specific obligation of protection and regulation.
Only one part of the criminal offences are included in the criminal code, under the title “crimes against public economy”, considered in the old "public" prospect and corporate prospect of “Codice Rocco” (1930s).
The adjusting to the new economic and constitutional system developed gradually and is still ongoing through interventions by the Constitutional Court, legislative modifications, and by special laws too, but it involves areas of great importance at present, such as the criminal law of the market and of the competition, taking into account also the influence of the “mafia”, the criminal protection of the consumer, the criminal regulation of the strikes in essential public services.
Other criminal offences are included in the civil code, in order to protect the “statute” of the trading/commercial companies, subject of recent reforms too, in particular with Dlgs 61/2002, that reformulated the offences of false accounting, infidelity, many offences of the administrators, directors and auditors, arousing problems and questions on the compatibility with EU law.
Finally, special attention must be paid to the criminal offences protecting the safety and health at work, subject of a recent reform with Dlgs 81/2008, that implementing the EU law has once again re-designed the area of responsibility and of the criminal offences that punish the violations of rules of prevention of risks and damaging events in this important field, in connection with some important crimes against the life and the personal and public safety (i.e. manslaughter, omission of means of prevention of disasters and accidents at work) and with the system of corporate liability (Dlgs 231/2001) dealt with in the courses of Criminal Law II and Criminal Law Advanced.