Recent Developments in Italian Constitutional-Criminal Law

Abstract

This article compares Italian "Constitutional- Criminal" law under Italy's Constitution with the development of legal rights in Canada under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The author explains the "constitutional approach'' to criminal law in Italy, which is a complex web of principles which govern the criminal law by defining the concepts of "crime" and "criminal responsibility". Professor Cadoppi then examines various aspects of "constitutional-criminal "law as it has been developed by legal scholars, and the extent to which this approach has been accepted by the Italian Constitutional Court. The legal rights found in "constitutional-criminal" law are thought to be extendable to Canadian constitutional law, given the broad language of section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights. The author notes that the Supreme Court of Canada has given the Canadian Charter an expansive interpretation comparable to the Italian ' 'constitutional-criminal'' law approach, and uses this parallel to show that Canadian and Italian courts are moving toward a vision of a new criminal law in which ' 'fundamental justice'' will prevail.