La Tutela penale dei beni culturali

The constitutional and supranational importance of cultural objects imposes the use of criminal law as necessary instrument to guarantee adequate protection for their rank.The subject of the present study is the protection provided by the italian legal system to the offenses caused to the historical and artistic heritage, also considering the international and European sources of law.The study aims to analyze the critical aspects of the italian legislation with regard to fundamental issues of criminal law, also in the light of the position of the legal literature and the judicial interpretation.The current system, composed by the Criminal Code and the Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape, is fragmented and inadequate and it requires an urgent and substantial legislative reform.As a matter of fact, it is severe when there is no damage at the good and the danger is only abstract, while the severity vanishes when the type of offense is the injury.Finally the study focuses on the most recent proposal for reform of the criminal law system for the protection of cultural heritage (submitted during the 17 th parlamentary term) which, however, doesn’t solve the major flaws of the discipline.