Historical decision or dangerous precedent1? - criminal sentencing of the national Italian commission experts with “major risks”

Madalina Cristina Putinei

Nicolas Queloz

In October 2012, the Criminal Court of Aquila (Italy) convicted the seven experts of the Commissione nazionale per la previsione e la prevenzione dei grandi rischi, following the earthquake that took place on 6 April 2009 in the Aquila city and region, resulting in the death and injury of several persons. The authors propose a synthesis of this large-scale judgment – whose core is given by the analysis of the causal link – as well as a critical review of the sentence,
which they describe as "a historical decision" and "a dangerous precedent".
The object of this (short) review is the decision of the Criminal Court of Aquila dating from 22 October 2012 (the first instance), which contains 943 pages and regards the criminal liability of the seven experts of the Commissione nazionale per la previsione e la prevenzione dei grandi rischi, in the context of the earthquake occurring on 6 April 6 2009, strongly affecting the city of Aquila and the surrounding region2.

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