Collateral Effects and Sustainability of Criminal Law

Criminal law represents the most expensive tool for governing antisocial behaviors, and pursuing effective outcomes through an inherently harmful instrument such as criminal punishment increases the risk of unintended and undesirable “side effects” that can affect not only the recipient of punitive intervention but also other individuals, up to the entire community. A particular type of side effect is represented by the so-called “chilling effect,” which manifests as a disincentive for lawful, socially acceptable behaviors, and even extends to the exercise of a fundamental right.

Despite its theoretical and practical relevance, there is a lack of dedicated studies on the subject in the scientific landscape. The research aims to fill this knowledge gap by adopting an innovative approach that combines theoretical and empirical analysis and integrates, in an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary perspective, penal expertise with that of other legal disciplines (notably civil law), as well as linguistic skills.

Specifically, the first objective is to construct a conceptual framework aimed primarily at defining the concept of “side effect” for criminal law, with particular regard to the chilling effect, also delving into terminological aspects. Moving on to the analysis of case studies, the second objective is to construct a typology of side effects relevant to criminal law. The third objective aims to construct a toolkit for criminal legislators, with particular regard to impact analyses, also drawing on the experiences of other legal systems in the field of better regulation. Finally, the research aims to identify the space allocated to side effects in the decisions of criminal judges, with a reflection dedicated to the use of consequentialist argumentation in criminal matters.