Editorial of Dossier “Criminal res iudicata, principle of legality, principle of culpability”

Abstract

What’s the meaning of the locution “medesimo fatto” in the Art. 649 of the Italian Criminal Procedure Code, that regulates the ne bis in idem principle (double jeopardy clause)? The fact object of the second judgment must be considered on its exclusively naturalistic dimension, no matter what the juridical qualification is according to the criminal law rules? In which measure the prohibition of second judgment operates when the criminal law rules tolerate the duplication of the sanctioning treatment, or when the legal system determines for the same fact, beyond penalty sanctions, administrative or civil punishment of considerable gravity? In which measure the conviction by definitive sentence is subject to revision based on wrong facts evaluation about the responsibility of the accused? Do the criminal sentences which inflict an illegal penalty or that condemn the accused for a fact that is not provided by law as a crime, have execution power? The author deals with these and other similar issues – widely discussed on Italian criminal procedure – in order to stimulate the debate about the theme of criminal res iudicata, on the general perspective and, more specifically, focusing on its relations with the principles of culpability and legality.