CONSTITUTIONAL PENAL LAW

The Italian Constitutional Law establishes many principles which have influence, directly or indirectly, on criminal law’s drafting and on its application. In the last forty years the Italian jurisprudence has paid a deep attention to the study of the relationship between Constitutional law and Criminal Law. Pietro Nuvolone and Franco Bricola have been the first who drafted the so called “constitutional” theory of crime.
During the course will be analyzed the most important constitutional principles to apply the criminal rules, such as, among the others, the legal principle, the harm principle, the “colpevolezza” principle, which concernes the mens rea, and the “ragionevolezza” principle, which concernes.
During the course those constitutional principles which have a major influence on criminal law ‘s provisions will be analysed. We refer in particular to the principle of legality, the harm principle, the so called principle of “colpevolezza” (concerning the elements of mens rea), the principle of ragionevolezza (concerning the equal treatment of people in front of the law).
The classes will be focused, in particular, on the principle of legality, for its central role in criminalibus. It will be examined referring both to the law in the books, and to the law in action.