Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza

On the 11th and 12th May 2023, the Law Department of the University of Turin hosts the international conference “Proportionality of Criminal Penalties in EU Law”.

The event is jointly organised by the University of Turin (Prof. Stefano Montaldo), the University of Liverpool (Prof. Valsamis Mitsilegas) and the University of Milan Bicocca (Lorenzo Grossio).

Please find the flyer at the bottom of the page

Registration is now open!
To attend in presence, please fill in the Registration form

Conference Venue:
Room H4
Luigi Einaudi University Campus
Lungo Dora Siena 100/A, 10153 Torino

For any inquiry, do not hesitate to contact the Organising Committee  at the following address: conference.proportionality2023@gmail.com

The speakers
Francesco Viganò (Corte Costituzionale – Bocconi University); Valsamis Mitsilegas (University of Liverpool); Jacob Öberg (University of Southern Denmark); Adriano Martufi (University of Pavia); Irene Wieczorek (University of Durham); Chloé Brière (Université Libre de Bruxelles); Pedro Caeiro (University of Coimbra); Emanuela Pistoia (University of Teramo); Araceli Turmo (University of Nantes); Maria Bergstrom (University of Uppsala); Stefano Montaldo (University of Turin); Marco Pelissero (University of Turin);  Alessandro Rosanò (University of Valle d’Aosta); Lorenzo Grossio (University of Milan Bicocca – Université ​Côte d’Azur); Stefano Ronco (University of Turin); Gniewomir Wycichowski-Kuchta (University of Warsaw); Vittorio Cama (University of Trento); Francesca Finelli (University of Luxembourg); Lorenzo Bernardini (University of Luxembourg); Chloé Fauchon (University of Strasbourg – University of Salamanca).

Please find the complete conference programme below

The topic
As a multi-dimensional general principle of the EU legal order, proportionality plays a key role in the development of national and EU criminal law. Against that background, the Lisbon Treaty gave autonomous significance to the principle of proportionality of penalties, now enshrined in Article 49(3) of the Charter, providing that “the severity of penalties must not be disproportionate to the criminal offence”. While the potential of that provision has long being neglected by the Court of Justice, most recent case-law provides evidence of a structural paradigm shift. The Court has recently acknowledged that these expressions of proportionality reiterate the principle enshrined in Article 49(3) of the Charter. What is more, it has also recognised that the principle of proportionality of penalties enjoys direct effect.

This evolution marks the emergence of a distinct theoretical identity for proportionality of criminal penalties in the EU legal order and raises an array of systemic questions, ranging from its relationship with the general proportionality principle to its impact on domestic criminal systems and the EU legal order. With a view to foster deeper reflection on proportionality of penalties at the EU level, the conference gathers key experts in the field for a discussion on the principle’s theorisation and place in the EU legal order, as well as on its impact on Member States’ criminal systems.

Attached poster and programme