Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Populism and Criminal Justice in Italy

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Italian Populism and Constitutional Law

Part of the book series: Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century ((CDC))

Abstract

In relation to social problems of varying degrees of gravity, criminal justice is constantly being called for in order to deal, in the most politically advantageous way, with the problems posed by security and the need for collective reassurance. And while this “primacy” unleashes a dangerous chase after ever harsher punishments and ever stricter treatment of offenders, the associated penal legislation tends to divert from classical and liberal principles. This chapter shows how the interplay between populism and criminal justice may bring the risk of a real retrograde step and fuel a kind of “penal extremism”.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Thus, the perpetrators of the offence concerned are not only, as in the original bill, the real illegal immigrants, that is, foreigners who have illegally entered Italian territory, using stealth to cross our borders by land or by sea, but so too are the so-called “overstayers”, that is, persons who, even though they may have entered our country based on a legitimate entitlement (for example, a residence permit or a tourist visa), have nevertheless remained here illegally after that entitlement has ceased to apply (for example, after the expiry of a residence permit or tourist visa).

  2. 2.

    Some of these issues have been deemed groundless by the Italian Constitutional Court: see Corte Cost., sent. no. 250/2010, in Dir. pen. proc., 2010, 1187 ff.

  3. 3.

    The original formulation of the case elements referred to in art. 10-bis (deriving from art. 9 of draft law AS No. 773) constituted the offence of illegal entry and residence in the territory of the State, not as an infringement, but as a crime, punishable by imprisonment of from six months to four years.

  4. 4.

    However, after a period of not less than seven years from rehabilitation, perpetual accessory punishment must be declared extinguished, provided the convicted person has provided genuine, consistent evidence of good conduct.

References

  • Bartoli, R. (2011). Il diritto penale dell’immigrazione: strumento di tutela dei flussi immigratori o mezzo di esclusione e indebolimento dello straniero? Questione Giustizia, 2, 17–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Camon, A. (2018). Disegno di legge spazzacorrotti e processo penale. Osservazioni a prima lettura. Archivio Penale, LXX(3), 799–813.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caputo, A. (2012). I reati in materia di immigrazione. In F. Palazzo & C. Paliero (Eds.), Trattato teorico-pratico di diritto penale (Vol. IX, pp. 223–235). Torino: Giappichelli.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costa, V. (2019). Élite e populismo. La democrazia nel mondo della vita. Catanzaro: Rubbettino.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamanti, I., & Lazar, M. (2018). Popolocrazia. La metamorfosi delle nostre democrazie. Bari: Laterza.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donini, M. (2009). Il cittadino extracomunitario da oggetto materiale a tipo d’autore nel controllo penale dell’immigrazione. Questione Giustizia, 1, 101–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donini, M. (2019). Populismo e ragione pubblica. Modena: Mucchi Editore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiandaca, G. (2013). Populismo politico e populismo giudiziario. Criminalia, 8, 95–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, G. (2007). The Grammar of Criminal Law. American, Comparative and International. Volume One: Foundations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forti, G. (2000). L’immane concretezza. Metamorfosi del crimine e controllo penale. Milano: Raffaello Cortina Editore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1993). Sorvegliare e punire. Torino: Einaudi Editore.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (2013). Mal fare, dir vero. Funzione della confessione nella giustizia. Torino: Einaudi Editore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallo, Z. (2018). The Penal Implication of Austerity: Italian Punishment in the Wake of the Eurozone Crisis. European Journal of Criminology, 16(2), 147–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gambardella, M. (2019). Il grande assente nella nuova “legge spazzacorrotti”: il microsistema delle fattispecie di corruzione. Cassazione penale, LIX(1), 44–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gialuz, M. (2017). The Italian Code of Criminal Procedure: A Reading Guide. In M. Gialuz, L. Luparia, & F. Scarpa (Eds.), The Italian Code of Criminal Procedure. Critical Essays and English Translation (pp. 17–53). Padova: Cedam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lacey, N. (2019). Populism and the Rule of Law. London School of Economics, Working Paper, 28, 3–27. Available at http://www.lse.ac.uk/International-Inequalities/Assets/Documents/Working-Papers/III-Working-Paper-28-Lacey-Populism-and-the-Rule-of-Law.pdf

  • Luparia, L. (2017). Model Code of Broken Dreams? The Italian Criminal Procedure in a Comparative Perspective. In M. Gialuz, L. Luparia, & F. Scarpa (Eds.), The Italian Code of Criminal Procedure. Critical Essays and English Translation (pp. 1–17). Padova: Cedam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manes, V. (2019a). Diritto penale no-limits. Garanzie e diritti fondamentali come presidio per la giurisdizione. questionegiustizia,it. Available at www.questionegiustizia.it

  • Manes, V. (2019b). L’estensione dell’art. 4-bis ord. pen. ai delitti contro la p.a.: profili di illegittimità costituzionale. Diritto penale contemporaneo, 2, 105–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manna, A. (2011). Il diritto penale dell’immigrazione clandestina, tra simbolismo penale e colpa d’autore. Cassazione penale, 2, 446–457.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manna, A. (2018). Il fumo della pipa (il cd. populismo politico e la reazione dell’Accademia e dell’Avvocatura). Archivio penale, 3, 1–12. Available at www.archiviopenale.it

  • Mastropaolo, A. (2010). Democrazia e populismo. In M. Bovero & V. Panzè (Eds.), La democrazia in nove lezioni (pp. 64–84). Roma/Bari: Laterza.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller, J.-W. (2017). What Is Populism ? Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nobis, F. (2018). Strafrecht in Zeiten des Populismus. Strafverteidiger, 38(7), 63–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paliero, C. (2011). Il principio di effettività nel diritto penale. Napoli: ES.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paliero, C. (2012). L’agorà e il palazzo. Quale legittimazione per il diritto penale? Criminalia, 7, 95–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pelissero, M. (2007), Logiche di esclusione e di inclusione nella politica criminale sulla immigrazione. Questione Giustizia, 4, 684–705.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pisani, N. (2018). Il disegno di legge “spazzacorrotti”: solo ombre. Cassazione penale, LVIII(11), 3589–3592.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, J. (2007). Penal Populism. London/New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, J., & Miao, M. (2017). Penal Populism: The End of Reason. The Chinese University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law, Research Paper No. 2017-02.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pulitanò, D. (2013). Populismi e penale. Sulla attuale situazione spirituale della giustizia penale. Criminalia, 123–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pulitanò, D. (2019). Tempeste sul penale. Spazzacorrotti e altro. Diritto Penale Contemporaneo, 3, 235–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Risicato, L. (2019). Diritto alla sicurezza e sicurezza dei diritto: un ossimoro invincibile? Torino: Giappichelli.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salas, D. (2005). La volonté de punir. Essai sur le populisme pénal. Paris: Fayard.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sbriccoli, M. (2009). Storia del diritto penale. Scritti editi e inediti. Milano: Giuffrè.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scoditti, E. (2018). Populismo e diritto. Un’introduzione. Questione Giustizia. Available at www.questionegiustizia.it

  • Sgubbi, F. (1990). Il reato come rischio sociale. Ricerche sulle scelte di allocazione dell’illegalità penale. Bologna: Il Mulino.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sicurella, R. (2012). Il controllo penale dell’immigrazione irregolare: esigenze di tutela, tentazioni simboliche, imperativi garantistici, percorsi di riflessione critica. Rivista italiana di diritto e procedura penale, LV(4), 1425–1477.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tripodi, A. (2019). Dal diritto penale della paura alla paura del diritto penale. Spunti per una riflessione. Quaderno di storia del diritto penale, 1, 263–273.

    Google Scholar 

  • Various Authors. (2016). La società punitiva. Populismo, diritto penale simbolico e ruolo del penalista. Diritto penale contemporaneo, 1–44. Available at www.penalecontemporaneo.it

  • Violante, L. (2014). Populismo e plebeismo nelle politiche criminali. Criminalia, 197–211.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Law and Economics, Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, Italy

    Nicola Selvaggi

Authors
  1. Nicola Selvaggi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicola Selvaggi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Scuola Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy

    Giacomo Delledonne

  2. Scuola Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy

    Giuseppe Martinico

  3. Scuola Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy

    Matteo Monti

  4. Scuola Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy

    Fabio Pacini

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Selvaggi, N. (2020). Populism and Criminal Justice in Italy. In: Delledonne, G., Martinico, G., Monti, M., Pacini, F. (eds) Italian Populism and Constitutional Law. Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37401-3_15

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation