In The Case of False Financial Reporting/False Corporate Communications, Is it Appropriate to Identify Quantitative Thresholds that Trigger Criminal Sanctions, or is it Desirable not to Set Such Thresholds

False corporate communications characterised by the circumstance that they are punished with criminal sanctions may be governed by dual legislation: on the one hand, it is possible to identify legislations that provide for quantitative thresholds that must be exceeded to speak of a criminal offence, while in other cases, such points do not exist. This article compares the advantages and disadvantages of the two potential regulations representing the Italian legislation concerning false corporate communications before and after 2015

DEVELOPMENT OF A RULE-BASED SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATED BIM CODE-CHECKING

This paper aims to describe a method for code-checking integrated into a BIM-based process. Recent developments in the field of model checking, made possible by the increased level of maturity of information modelling, open the possibility to facilitate regulatory controls. However, the automation of this process requires the definition and classification of rules, which represent the translation of regulatory requirements into a computer-based language. This activity, based on Italian legislation, represents the first step to propose a system that aims at integrating BIM models with the rule dataset. For this reason, this paper analyses the different types of queries through rules. These rules must recall principles of generality, replicability, consistency, uniformity. All these requirements are summarized in a structured spreadsheet and compared with the information contained in the BIM model, through a tool implemented within Dynamo software and facilitated by the use of scripts in Python language. The results of this process can be represented in the model and in the spreadsheet for an immediate visualization. This method allows a rapid and detailed control capable of highlighting the potential of information modelling and its integration.

Damages and Recovery of Profits in Intellectual Property Litigation before Italian Courts

The purpose of the article is twofold. At a more general level, it aims to illustrate how the changes in intellectual property litigation adopted in Italy since 2005, particularly in connection with the setting of damages suffered by rights holders and the recovery of profits obtained by infringers, have been remarkably successful in increasing the overall efficacy of the protection system. At the same time, it focuses on one particular feature of the system, the newly introduced recovery of profits from innocent infringers, arguing that the adoption of this second limb of recovery is questionable from a policy viewpoint and introduces a number of difficulties in the enforcement process, several of which transpire to be intractable. Some other aspects of the actions, both with regard to damages and recovery of profits, adopted in the recent Italian legislation are examined against the background of the EU enforcement directive and of TRIPS, with a view to highlighting both the strong points and the incongruities of the rules.

Energy Communities Design Optimization in the Italian Framework

Energy communities (EC) are expected to have a pivotal role to reach European decarbonization targets. One of the key aspects is the regulatory framework adopted by each Member State to properly manage such new customers’ aggregation. The paper firstly provides an updated overview of the EC regulation, focusing on the current Italian legislation. Next, a novel methodology for the design and management of energy community initiatives is proposed. The procedure firstly solves a design and operation optimization problem to calculate the best size of energy assets (boiler, heat pump, photovoltaic, thermal storage) to be installed. Second, a Shapley value-based approach is exploited to distribute a part of the community’s incomes to members, based on their contribution to the overall welfare. Results demonstrate that the adopted methodology is effective in ensuring a proper cash flow for the community, while pushing its members towards energy efficient behaviors.

The 3Rs Principle in Animal Experimentation: A Legal Review of the State of the Art in Europe and the Case in Italy

The aim of this paper is to describe the essential points of Italian and European legislation governing the use of animals in biomedical experimentation. A close look will be taken at the principles of the 3Rs, which represent the mainstay of the legal architecture based on which a correct interpretation may be drawn of the legislative documents on animal experimentation. Furthermore, this paper will address the ways in which Directive 2010/63/EU is implemented in Italian legislation on the welfare of laboratory animals. In addition to an assessment of legal issues (such as the scope of jurisdiction of supervisory authorities tasked with issuing authorizations), it will include a discussion of cases of inadequate and insufficient implementation of the requirements laid down by Directive 2010/63/EU. Both the consistency of the interpretation of national legislation with the Directive and the direct effectiveness of the Directive in national law, in which animal testing has been and still is the subject of heated debate between supporters and opponents, will be examined.

Atmospheric mercury pollution: the current methodological framework outlined by environmental legislation

Mercury is a toxic pollutant that exists in the atmosphere in several forms, operationally identified according to their chemical and physical characteristics. The problem of atmospheric mercury pollution has recently received increasing attention, as evidenced by the numerous European regulations issued in the last years. The normative question is closely related to the methodological one, as the quantification of the mercury species is strictly linked to the sampling and analysis methods. Due to their different bioavailability, airborne mercury forms detection is fundamental both in outdoor and indoor (i.e., workplace) environments. This paper presents an overview of European legislation on atmospheric mercury pollution, with particular attention to the Italian legislation. Starting from the regulatory protocols, the methodological framework for mercury quantification was reviewed, underlining the limits and the problems of the different methodologies and providing new guidance for the analysis. Regulatory and methodological updates have led to great specificity in mercury quantification, which is distinguished for the outdoor and indoor environments. For workplace environments, all mercury species (i.e., gaseous and particulate mercury) are required to be quantified by the Italian legislation; on the contrary, only gaseous compounds are monitored in outdoor conditions. It hence appears of primary importance that the monitoring operator chooses the sampling and analytical method for mercury sampling and analysis that correctly adheres to the normative regulations. Detailed norms describe how to carry on the monitoring in both outdoor and indoor conditions, preventing the operator’s arbitrariness, which otherwise can lead to airborne mercury underestimation/overestimation.

Overview of recent cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union (November 2020-March 2021)

In this reporting period (November 2020-March 2021), five cases will be presented. The first case is INPS v WS (C-302/19), dealing with the Italian legislation that excludes Single Permit holders from receiving family benefits for their family members residing in a third country. In the second report, two cases rendered on the same day by the Grand Chamber of the Court are discussed. In D.J. v Radiotelevizija Slovenija (C-344/19) and RJ v Stadt Offenbach am Main (C-580/19), the Court clarified the circumstances under which periods of stand-by time could be considered as ‘working time’ or, alternatively, ‘rest periods’ under Directive 2003/88. XI v Caisse pour l’avenir des enfants (C-129/20) is the third case reported. It concerns an interpretation of the Framework Agreement on parental leave in the light of the Luxembourg legislation, which requires parents to be employed at the time of their child’s birth to benefit from parental leave. Finally, the case report ends with VL v Szpital Kliniczny im. dra J. Babińskiego Samodzielny Publiczny Zakład Opieki Zdrowotnej w Krakowie (C-16/19), a case of discrimination on grounds of disability.

The Concept of “Person” in the Italian Legislation on Informed Consent and Advance Healthcare Directives

The aim of the paper is that of investigating the concept of “person” in the context of Italian law on informed consent and advance healthcare directives (law n. 219/2017). The following paper will first consider the importance of the concept of “person” within bioethics; secondly it will exhibit how there are different levels of bioethics, and that on the discussion level of laws and regulations, concepts worthy of metaphysical and value references cannot be used, because they must be shared by everyone in a pluralistic society. I’ll then move on to discuss the law on informed consent and advance healthcare directives; first I’ll discuss the references to the Italian Constitution, showing that the implied concept of “person” is closely linked to the concepts of “equality” and “autonomy”, and finally I’ll discuss the particular case of minors and the protection that the law provides them.

The “Years of Lead” in Italy and Reward Models as Counterterrorism Measures in Europe

The subject is addressed by focusing on two aspects: i) the identification of constant political-criminal models in emergency legislation, with particular reference to the fight against terrorism; ii) diachronic and synchronic dissemination of such constants in other legal experiences, both of the past and contemporary with Italian legislation of the 1970s/1980s. The concluding paragraph will offer some brief remarks regarding the relevance of such tools today in the fight against international terrorism in Europe, taking into special consideration one of the aforesaid constants, namely, reward-based legislation aimed at so-called pentiti.

Why Did Italian Democracy Become Vulnerable? Theorizing the Change from Neo- to Quasi-Militant Democracy

Embedded in scholarship on militant democracy, this research aims to explain how Italian legislation was positioned to militant democratic measures and how this changed over time. Drawing on the qualitative source analysis and the explanatory frameworks of democratic vulnerability tests two competing theory-grounded assumptions. While the first one assumes that Italian democracy became vulnerable when traditional militant democracy instruments were outmoded, the second considers the misuse or abandonment of those means with social consent as the source of vulnerability. The crisis-induced socioeconomic inequality and uncertainty weakened the Italian political nation. As a result, the latter supported populists in return for a promise of political change. The anti-democratic legal means employed to extend power competencies and prevent the exchange of ruling parties were the way to and the costs of the expected political change. At the same time, the political nation became unable to self-organize to strengthen democracy self-defense. As a result, Italians co-produced a quasi-militant democracy that turned vulnerable because militant democracy measures were misused or not used with the consent of Italians that relinquished their political subjectivity in favor of the Northern League and the Five Star Movement.