Relazione introduttiva al Convegno «Civil Law e Common Law: quale “grammatica” per il diritto penale?

The analysis and celebration of the scientific profile of professor George Fletcher allows a general overview of criminal law science as well as of recent Italian legislation in the field. Essential appears the new perspective of a criminal law increasingly developing on the basis of the dialogue among international legal systems and courts, and capable of managing the delicate transformation of any legal construct whenever it must be applied to a complex and moving social environment. These features seem largely lacking in recent Italian criminal laws. For laws, and especially criminal laws, the quest for justice is deemed to require the ability to grasp and respect human “bonds”, thus avoiding a sheer bureaucratic approach to social problems and need of protections. The idea of “reasonableness”, so cherished by Fletcher, seems a useful tool to face the new challenges for legal decision makers.