DignITA - International protection of human dignity through criminal law: strengthening Italy's implementation record

DignITA is a project led by Professor Serena Forlati (University of Ferrara) and involving the University of Catania, the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (Pisa), and the University Roma Tre. It aims at assessing and strengthening Italy’s record in implementing international obligations to criminalize conduct prejudicial to human dignity. It will elaborate and advocate a coherent approach to the protection of human dignity through criminal law at the international and the domestic level, with a strong focus on dissemination activities that will maximise its social impact.

This will imply:

1) appraising Italy’s implementing practices in terms of both transposition and effective application;

2) developing and disseminating reform proposals, interpretive solutions and operative guidelines, duly considering the effects that international obligations display at the domestic level, the specificities of EU Law (which often implements and develops relevant international standards) and the applicable constitutional ‘limits’ and ‘counter-limits’.

The Project will detect gaps and difficulties originating in the (lack of) provisions criminalizing international and internationally imposed crimes as such, but also in other hindrances to their effective prosecution (e.g. obstacles relating to the general principles of the domestic criminal system, eg the definition of defenses and the statutes of limitations). DignITA adopts a strong interdisciplinary approach which is reflected in the project’s methodology (paragraph 2.2), with experts in philosophy of law, international law, criminal law and engaged stakeholders working together on three strands of research that will:

1) Identify a concept of human dignity that is of specific relevance for international criminal law, by comparing and intersecting the broad conceptions often used at the international level with the narrow understanding that emerges from domestic criminal law, thanks also to the contribution of legal philosophers;

2) Map international and EU obligations that protect human dignity, in light of their original ratio and/or of their current interpretation, focusing on: (a) core crimes (genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity), and other relevant crimina iuris gentium, as offences against cultural property or internationally protected persons; (b) torture, enforced disappearances and manifestations of transnational organized crime (not limited to human trafficking); (c) terrorism; (d) obligations to criminalize conducts that impact on vulnerable groups; (e) crimes related to business activities such as labour exploitation or agri-food crimes; (f) obligations implicitly set forth by international human rights norms;

3) Assess if and how Italy transposed the relevant international/EU obligations, especially by considering whether the domestic implementing norms adequately address the protection of human dignity in framing criminalizing provisions (e.g. as regards definitions and penalties), also in light of their interplay with the provisions of the 'general part', the rules on jurisdiction and statutes of limitation.