L’INVENZIONE DELL’INTENZIONE CRIMINALE. CONCORSO MORALE E RESPONSABILITÀ OGGETTIVA DI VERTICE NELLA PRASSI GIUDIZIARIA ITALIANA DAL CASO NEGRI ALL’AFFARE CRAXI

Since the mid-1970s, when the ordinary judiciary was entrusted with the political and media-popular "mandate" to address and defeat criminal phenomena such as political terrorism, the mafia, and "environmental" corruption/extortion, several criminal trials with distinctive features have been conducted in Italy. These features pertain to the practices implemented by investigating magistrates and adjudicating courts. The use of associative crimes—both of a political nature and specific to mafia-related activities—soon became a Gordian knot regarding the application of legal provisions concerning not only the liability for the crimes in question but, above all, the aspect of joint criminal participation. An interesting point to analyze would be the mechanisms of assigning criminal liability to promoters, organizers, leaders, and, when necessary, "qualified" participants. These are individuals deemed to hold significant and prominent roles within a given organization, based on their hierarchical positions. Consequently, they were held accountable for all the purpose-driven crimes committed as part of the criminal association’s activities.