La arbitrariedad del no punir. Sobre las obligaciones de tutela penal de los derechos fundamentales

Tanto la Corte interamericana de San José cuanto el Tribunal europeo de derechos humanos de Estrasburgo han desarrollado la idea según la cual del deber estatal de "respetar" los derechos reconocidos en las respectivas convenciones institutivas derivaría una obligación de tutelar penalmente, cuanto menos los más fundamentales de tales derechos. Más en particular, los Estados tendrían no solo el deber convencional de incriminar las conductas lesivas de los derechos a la vida, a no ser sometido a tortura, a la libertad personal y sexual, etc., sino también el deber de investigar las conductas agresivas de tales derechos -ejecutadas por funcionarios públicos o por particulares-, de perseguir penalmente a los sujetos individualizados como responsables y de sancionarlos con penas proporcionales a la gravedad de los hechos cometidos. La presente contribución analiza la jurisprudencia paralela de las dos Cortes en la materia y los argumentos más recurrentes utilizados en sus respectivas sentencias, y luego se cuestiona sobre la problemática justificación de tal cambio de paradigma en la función tradicionalmente atribuida a los derechos humanos en el discurso penal, que de instrumento de defensa del individuo contra la potestad punitiva estatal se convierten acá en un factor que reclama la intervención del derecho penal frente a la elección estatal de no punir. Tanto la Corte interamericana di San José quanto la Corte europea dei diritti dell'uomo di Strasburgo hanno sviluppato l'idea secondo cui dal dovere statale di "rispettare" i diritti riconosciuti dalle rispettive convenzioni istitutive deriverebbe un obbligo di tutelare penalmente quanto meno i più fondamentali di tali diritti. Più in particolare, gli Stati avrebbero non solo il dovere convenzionale di incriminare le condotte lesive dei diritti alla vita, a non essere sottoposti a tortura, alla libertà personale e sessuale, etc., ma anche il dovere di investigare sulle condotte aggressive di tali diritti - non importa se compiute da agenti pubblici o da privati cittadini -, di perseguire penalmente i soggetti individuati come responsabili e di punirli con pene proporzionate alla gravità del fatto commesso. Il presente contributo analizza la giurisprudenza parallela delle due Corti in materia e gli argomenti più ricorrenti utilizzati nelle rispettive sentenze, e si interroga quindi sulla problematica legittimazione di un simile rovesciamento di paradigma nella funzione tradizionalmente attribuita ai diritti umani nel discorso penalistico, che da strumento di difesa dell'individuo contro la potestà punitiva statale si convertono qui in fattore che reclama l'intervento del diritto penale di fronte alla scelta statale di non punire

an optimal algorithm to assess the compliance with the t2s requirement of waste to energy facilities

Abstract The gas resulting from the incineration of waste must be raised, after the last injection of combustion air, in a controlled and homogeneous fashion and even under the most unfavorable conditions, to a temperature of at least 850 °C for at least two seconds (Art. 50.2 Directive 2010/75/EU). This norm and its variations (i.e. 1,100 °C for 2 s if the chlorine content of the incinerated waste exceeds 1% by mass), called "T 2s requirement", oblige all Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plant operators to monitor the post-combustion conditions and to turn on auxiliary burners in the occurrence of noncompliance with such a requirement. In a WtE boiler, the determination of the mean temperature reached by combustion gas in the post-combustion zone, after an ideal residence time of 2 s, is carried out by an algorithm implemented in the Distributed Control System (DCS) of the plant. Currently, since many different algorithms are used, it appears that further investigation on this subject is required. This work considers, as a case study, an existing WtE boiler and, by means of a calibrated long-furnace model of the post-combustion zone, investigates all the possible operating conditions as well as their connections with the monitored variables. The most relevant influences on the T 2s temperature are highlighted and some control algorithms are proposed. The results so far obtained show that the T 2s is affected both by boiler load and gas-side fouling in the same way and for the same extent. Therefore, since gas-side fouling in the post-combustion zone is an uncontrollable variable, boiler load is not usable in as input variable of a reliable algorithm. Moreover, the results highlight the significant role that can be played in the algorithm for the estimation of the T 2s by the oxygen content in secondary flue gas

Agent communication and artificial institutions

In this paper we propose an application-independent model for the definition of artificial institutions that can be used to define open multi-agent systems. Such a model of institutional reality makes us able also to define an objective and external semantics of a commitment-based Agent Communication Language (ACL). In particular we propose to regard an ACL as a set of conventions to act on a fragment of institutional reality, defined in the context of an artificial institution. Another contribution of the work presented in this paper is an operational definition of norms, a crucial component of artificial institutions. In fact in open systems interacting agents might not conform to the specifications. We regard norms as event-driven rules that when are fired by events happening in the system create or cancel a set of commitments. An interesting aspect of our proposal is that both the definition of the ACL and the definition of norms are based on the same notion of commitment. Therefore an agent capable of reasoning on commitments can reason on the semantics of communicative acts and on the system of norm

An operational approach to norms in artificial institutions

The notion of artificial institution is crucial for the specification of open and dynamic interaction frameworks where heterogeneous and autonomous agents can interact to face problems in various fields, like for instance electronic commerce, business-to-business (B2B) applications, and personal assistant applications. In our view the specification of artificial institutions requires a clear standard definition of some basic concepts: the notion of ontology, authorizations, conventions, and norms. In this paper we propose an operational approach to the definition of norms that is mainly based on the generation of commitments. These norms can be employed to verify if the interacting agents are behaving in accordance with the normative specification of the system. In particular we regard norms as event-driven rules that are fired by events happening in the system and then modify commitments affecting the agents having a certain role. We will discuss the crucial differences between the notion of authorization and permission and how the notion of permissions, obligations, and prohibitions can be expressed in our model. We will investigate the connections among the specification of different artificial institutions, in particular how an institution can enrich or further regulate the entities defined in another one. Finally we will briefly present the specification of the Dutch Auction Institution and of the Auction House Institution in order to exemplify the model presented in this paper

Rural electrification in central america and east africa, two case studies of sustainable microgrids

This paper deals with the electrification of rural villages in developing countries using Sustainable Energy Systems. The rural electrification feasibility study is done using Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable PRO (HOMER PRO). The HOMER PRO energy modelling software is an optimization software improved by U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It helps in designing, comparing and optimizing the design of power generation technologies. In this paper, two rural electrification case studies are modelled and analysed using HOMER PRO. Technical and economic evaluation criteria are applied to study the feasibility of a micro-hydro plant in El Díptamo (Honduras), and a hybrid plant composed of photovoltaic module arrays, Diesel generators, and flow batteries, in a small island on Victoria Lake. For both cases, we show the results of the studies of the daily and yearly loads, of the resources available in the area and the economic evaluation of the chosen plants configuration

Sul contrasto al terrorismo di matrice islamica tramite il sistema penale tra ‘diritto penale del nemico’ e legittimi bilanciamenti

[Abstract non disponibile

Saluto a Nicolò Zanon

Farewell speech for professor Nicolò Zanon delivered on the occasion of the end of his term as Constitutional Judge (2014-2023).Discorso di commiato al professore Nicolò Zanon pronunciato in occasione della conclusione del suo mandato di Giudice costituzionale (2014-2023)

Artificial institutions: a model of institutional reality for open multiagent systems

Software agents' ability to interact within different open systems, designed by different groups, presupposes an agreement on an unambiguous definition of a set of concepts, used to describe the context of the interaction and the communication language the agents can use. Agents' interactions ought to allow for reliable expectations on the possible evolution of the system; however, in open systems interacting agents may not conform to predefined specifications. A possible solution is to define interaction environments including a normative component, with suitable rules to regulate the behaviour of agents. To tackle this problem we propose an application-independent metamodel of artificial institutions that can be used to define open multiagent systems. In our view an artificial institution is made up by an ontology that models the social context of the interaction, a set of authorizations to act on the institutional context, a set of linguistic conventions for the performance of institutional actions and a system of norms that are necessary to constrain the agents' action