- Università degli studi di Padova
Dipartimento di Diritto Privato e Critica del Diritto
via 8 Febbraio 1848, 2
35 122 - Padova
Italy
- I am Associate Professor at the University of Padua, Department of Private Law. My main research interests are focus... moreI am Associate Professor at the University of Padua, Department of Private Law.
My main research interests are focused on Philosophy, Philosophy of Law, Philosophy of Science, Private and Criminal law.
I worked on topics such as:
- the use of metaphors in juridical language (see "Lo Scudo di Dioniso. Contributo allo studio della metafora giuridica")
- Computer Ethics and Law; Datafication and Law (see. "Il mondo dato. Saggi su Datificazione e diritto")
- the use of precedents in judicial argumentation (see upload section);
- Neuroscience and Law (see upload section);
- Sources of Law and the ierarchic principle of theoretical organization of legal system (see "Diritto e Ordine. Riflesioni sul sistema delle fonti del diritto e sulla sua crisi")
- the concept of "positive" law (see "Positività e Giurisprudenza", "Res iudicata. Figure della positività nell'esperienza giuridica contemporanea", and lastly the international project published in "Positività giuridica. Studi e attualizzazioni di un concetto complesso").
And others.
Currently I am working on Legal issues of new trends in Biometrics.edit
The Metaverse presents itself as the next evolutionary paradigm of the Internet, based on the integration of the physical world with a plurality of virtual worlds so as to enable immersive, continuous and consistent life experiences for... more
The Metaverse presents itself as the next evolutionary paradigm of the Internet, based on the integration of the physical world with a plurality of virtual worlds so as to enable immersive, continuous and consistent life experiences for subjects across environments. Underlying this, there is a massive datafication of habitats and people that are reproduced and supplemented by digital content based on augmentation and virtualization of reality to allow users fluid social, economic and (soon) legal presence and operability. A decisive part of optimizing the control of environments and the avatars themselves is the datafication of personal, physical and behavioral aspects suitable to serve a plurality of functions: authentication, identification, but also management of the specific physicality required by the immersiveness of experiences. Massive biometric datafication is thus placed at the center of the entire project, raising doubts as to its compatibility with the fundamental principle of personal dignity.
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Con il presente numero proseguiamo la riflessione sui temi fondamentali del Metaverso avviata nel numero precedente del Journal of Ethics and Legal Technologies (JELT, 2/2023). Come ampiamente argomentato introduttivamente in quella... more
Con il presente numero proseguiamo la riflessione sui temi fondamentali del Metaverso avviata nel numero precedente del Journal of Ethics and Legal Technologies (JELT, 2/2023). Come ampiamente argomentato introduttivamente in quella occasione, con il termine "Metaverso" non intendiamo tanto indicare una precisa realizzazione tecnica, quanto una direzione di sviluppo dell'attuale panorama tecnologico. Quest'ultimo appare caratterizzato non solo dall'implementazione sempre più diffusa nell'ambiente socio-economico delle innovazioni degli ultimi anni ma anche, in particolare, dalla convergenze tra le stesse nella realizzazione di ecosistemi digitali sempre più pervasivi presso i quali potremmo trovarci a spendere il nostro tempo svolgendo in essi la più parte delle nostre occupazioni, siano esse professionali, ludiche, intellettuali o altro ancora. In questo senso, intravediamo un contesto in cui andrà attenuandosi la sensibilità sociale verso temi tradizionalmente considerati preoccupanti sul piano etico e giuridico come, ad esempio, la possibilità del controllo di massa, la invasività della datificazione personale sempre più intima, sui quali molto si è scritto negli ultimi anni. Questa affermazione, riporta, se si vuole, un'impressione generale da parte di chi osserva lo spirito generale del nostro tempo mentre procede a concretizzarsi in realizzazioni che ineluttabilmente si manifestano come sempre più invasive e sospetta che tale movimento sia necessitato dalla logica interna della tecnica per come si manifesta, oggi, dominante più che mai. Corre l'obbligo, dunque, di sollevare questioni filosofiche, radicali, anche se esse possano apparire desuete a chi si sia abituato ad assistere alla riduzione della filosofia ad apologia della società dell'informazione automatizzata.
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SOMMARIO:1. Introduzione: pluridimensionalità del rapporto tra ICT e diritto; 2. Dalla Cibernetica alla Computer Ethics; 3. Dalla Computer Ethics alla Information Ethics; 4.Data Ethics. 5. Datificazione
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espanolEl articulo 22 del Reglamento General de Proteccion de Datos (GDPR) preve la prohibicion de decisiones basadas unicamente en el tratamiento automatizado de datos que produzcan efectos juridicos en la persona interesada o le afecte... more
espanolEl articulo 22 del Reglamento General de Proteccion de Datos (GDPR) preve la prohibicion de decisiones basadas unicamente en el tratamiento automatizado de datos que produzcan efectos juridicos en la persona interesada o le afecte significativamente de modo similar. Sin embargo, tambien se indican tres excepciones significativas para las cuales el art. 22.3 requiere algunas salvaguardas adicionales y proporciona al sujeto de los datos otros derechos especificos. Este trabajo sostiene que esas salvaguardas minimas se ordenan en una linea progresiva que llega a su culmen con el “derecho a impugnar la decision”, que a su vez debe considerarse como el mas completo. Sobre la base de su significado juridico especifico, tambien se argumenta que, para poder ejercerlo plenamente, la parte interesada debe tener la oportunidad de comprender completamente los aspectos tecnicos involucrados en el proceso, si es necesario. En otras palabras, el derecho de impugnacion parece presuponer un derecho de explicacion, cuya existencia en el RGPD es actualmente muy discutida. Dado que existe un vinculo intimo entre los dos, sugiero revisar la nocion de “explicacion” rechazando cualquier definicion abstracta y adoptando una relativa y contextual, estrictamente vinculada a la forma particular por la que se debe mediar la disputa. EnglishArt. 22 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides for the prohibition of decisions based “solely” on automated data processing which may have legal effects concerning the data subject or “similarly affects” him or her. However, three significant exceptions are also indicated. Since these cases are supposed to be exceptional, art. 22.3 requires some additional safeguards and provides the data subject with extra rights. This work argues that those minimal safeguards are ordered in a progressive line that reaches its climax with the “right to contest”, which in turn has to be seen as the most comprehensive. Drawing from the juridical proper meaning of it, it is also argued that in order to be fully exercised, the data subject must be allowed to deeply understand the technicalities involved in the processing, if needed. In other words, the right to contest seems to presuppose a right to explanation, whose existence in the GDPR is currently highly discussed. Since there is an intimate link between the two, I suggest revising the notion of “explanation” rejecting any abstract definition and adopting a relative and contextual one, strictly linked to the particular way in which the contestation needs to be mediated.
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Abstract: In this work I discuss a peculiar trend in contemporary european and italian legislation aiming at reducing fundamental legal concepts within the boundaries of technical categories of IT. Some crucial examples are presented, and... more
Abstract: In this work I discuss a peculiar trend in contemporary european and italian legislation aiming at reducing fundamental legal concepts within the boundaries of technical categories of IT. Some crucial examples are presented, and a general overview of the consequences is given. In first place, this phenomenon changes the way in which the legal norm is derived asking for a modification of the composition in the set of communities whose interpretative work is necessary for making the legal rule work in the society. Since the main framework is made by technical presuppositions and definitions, the community of IT scholars is now legitimate as one new kind of legal community too, and new forms of dialogue with the traditional legal communities (judges, legal scholars, professional legal associations) are to be found. Secondly, it may lead to the extreme the reduction of what is lecit from the juridical point of view to what is technically made possible by IT (“Code is Law”1), thus increasing exponentially the level of artificiality in legal behaviour. As a matter of fact, in order for the technical framework to be efficient it needs to have a complete dominance of the pragmatic conditions of the behaviour which is supposed to comply, realizing a level of control never attained before by the legal rule alone. I suggest to call this last phenomenon – which is open to discussion – “Hyper-positivity”.
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Recourse to precedents in legal adjudication is a source of intriguing theoretical challenges and serious practical difficulties. That is especially so when we have to do not with domestic precedents but with foreign ones, that is, with... more
Recourse to precedents in legal adjudication is a source of intriguing theoretical challenges and serious practical difficulties. That is especially so when we have to do not with domestic precedents but with foreign ones, that is, with decisions taken by foreign courts and international judicial institutions, particularly when there is no formal obligation for a court to resort to foreign law. Can a case decided by the judiciary of a different legal order have any bearing on a dispute arising domestically here and now? Should such a foreign precedent be acknowledged to have any (formal) binding force on the case in question? How could the practice of following foreign precedents be justified? This paper is primarily meant to lay the theoretical basis on which those questions can be addressed. The basis on which we proceed in answering those questions essentially lies in a theory of legal reasoning that, for lack of a better phrase, can be labelled a dialectical approach informed by standards of discursive rationality
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After a brief overview of the development of the Italian legislation on Sport, two important theoretical issues are highlighted: one being in particular the peculiar role of judicial decisions for the development of legal reforms, and the... more
After a brief overview of the development of the Italian legislation on Sport, two important theoretical issues are highlighted: one being in particular the peculiar role of judicial decisions for the development of legal reforms, and the other, connected with the first one, is about the persistence of a highly respected theoretical point of view about the sport legal system as autonomous and, in principle, independent from the State. This general reconstruction seems to have been acknoledged by the general statal law and by an important decision of the Italian Constitutional Court. Since the core of both those questions is axiological, I focus on this to trace a syntetic comparison with the new Andalusian Law which is centered on a strong and systematical core of sport values and thus could be a point of reference for a modern legislation endorsing a more integrated approach.
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SOMMARIO: 1. Riproposizione del problema: dialogo tra corti e uso del diritto straniero. – 2. Uso del diritto straniero, della comparazione e del precedente. – 3. Dialettica della giurisprudenza pratica. – 4. Quale “dialettica”? – 5.... more
SOMMARIO: 1. Riproposizione del problema: dialogo tra corti e uso del diritto straniero. – 2. Uso del diritto straniero, della comparazione e del precedente. – 3. Dialettica della giurisprudenza pratica. – 4. Quale “dialettica”? – 5. Dialettica e prospettiva processuale del diritto: cenni e rinvio.
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SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione. La metafora del “dialogo” tra corti — 2. Il simile nella fisiologia del linguaggio e le esigenze di controllo giuridico — 3. Della giurisprudenza influente: piccola fenomenologia della circolazione del formante... more
SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione. La metafora del “dialogo” tra corti — 2. Il simile nella fisiologia del linguaggio e le esigenze di controllo giuridico — 3. Della giurisprudenza influente: piccola fenomenologia della circolazione del formante giurisprudenziale — 4. La giustificazione analogica e le sue critiche — 5. Il giudice e il dialogo con se stesso — 6. Conclusioni: dialettica della giurisprudenza pratica — 7. Bibliografia.
Until recently the use of biometric data has been focused on the problem of establishing personal identity on the double form of "biometric identification" and "identity verification". This limitation is reflected also in the regulation... more
Until recently the use of biometric data has been focused on the problem of establishing personal identity on the double form of "biometric identification" and "identity verification". This limitation is reflected also in the regulation especially in the European framework based on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). But the advent of the "data society", radically changed the picture. Images, videos, software tools to catch and analyse physical traits and behaviour are making biometric data extraction and use much easier. Biometric data can, now, be exploited for uses that go well beyond unique identification. The case of recruiting is paradigmatic, since new possibilities are now open to improve the procedures by means of Artificial Intelligence (AI), but they have to face the uncertainties in the regulation. Thus in this paper, first I will give a short reference framework about biometrics (§ 2); then I will discuss the relationships between the European General Data Protection Regulation about biometric data and national laws, taking the Italian case as benchmark (§ 3); then I will focus on a specific point in the new European Proposal for a Regulation on Artificial Intelligence, as far as biometric data are concerned, (§ 4), then I will try to suggest an interpretative coordination between these sources of law, offering some concluding remarks (§ 5-6).
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With the advent of mobile network connection tools, the use of digital platforms for carrying out ordinary tasks, as well as the development of social networks, almost the entirety of people life-located in geographical areas not affected... more
With the advent of mobile network connection tools, the use of digital platforms for carrying out ordinary tasks, as well as the development of social networks, almost the entirety of people life-located in geographical areas not affected by the digital divide-are projected in the datafied environment of the Internet. This datafication now concerns more and more the very physical and behavioral features of people, especially those belonging to the younger generations who, on the one hand, have total confidence with digital recording tools and, on the other, appear less sensitive to the confidentiality of their exposures. As a consequence, this makes biometric data-once hard to obtain without the subject's collaboration or an act of coercion upon him-widely available for collection and processing. This large availability makes it possible to easily use those data for many kinds of applications, far beyond unique identification which has already been a thoroughly scrutinized purpose even from the legal and ethical point of view. This paper deals with the use of biometrics in recruitment and tries to clarify the general European normative framework especially with reference to particularly strict national labour legislations and in the light of the recent European Proposal for a Regulation on AI.
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In uscita la seconda edizione de "Il mondo dato" per i tipi di Cleup.
Qui la mia nuova prefazione.
Qui la mia nuova prefazione.
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L'avvento della Computer revolution, con l'invasione della tecnologia informatica in ogni ambito dell'esperienza umana, ulteriormente potenziata dall'interconnessione globale dei dispositivi, porta con sé, tra le altre cose, la necessità... more
L'avvento della Computer revolution, con l'invasione della tecnologia informatica in ogni ambito dell'esperienza umana, ulteriormente potenziata dall'interconnessione globale dei dispositivi, porta con sé, tra le altre cose, la necessità di una immensa opera di traduzione del vissuto in elementi idonei ad essere gestiti e manipolati dai calcolatori. Tale fenomeno si manifesta nella ricorsività auto-alimentantesi del bisogno di potenza per la gestione dell'"alluvione" di dati, che a sua volta consente l'ulteriore estensione dell'automazione producendo, così, ancora più e più dati. Si tratta del fenomeno della c.d. "datificazione", elemento motore della trasformazione sociale contemporanea, che, per l'appunto, si definisce "data-driven". Ma, tra le molte questioni che tale fenomeno solleva, ve n'è al fondo una che ha a che fare con il dato in quanto traduzione simbolica del reale e che colloca il tema al cuore della strategia di base con cui procede l'ominazione. Discutiamo qui, dunque, delle valenze della "datificazione" e proviamo ad immaginare un percorso nel tema del simbolico per iniziare la comprensione delle profondità di un fenomeno che connota l'evoluzione della nostra civiltà. SOMMARIO: 1. Cosa è "dato"-2. Il dato come struttura simbolica-3. Ingegneria del simbolico-4. Data-driven society-5. Cosa resta del mondo.
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Abstract: In this work I discuss a peculiar trend in contemporary european and italian legislation aiming at reducing fundamental legal concepts within the boundaries of technical categories of IT. Some crucial examples are presented, and... more
Abstract: In this work I discuss a peculiar trend in contemporary european and italian legislation aiming at reducing fundamental legal concepts within the boundaries of technical categories of IT. Some crucial examples are presented, and a general overview of the consequences is given. In first place, this phenomenon changes the way in which the legal norm is derived asking for a modification of the composition in the set of communities whose interpretative work is necessary for making the legal rule work in the society. Since the main framework is made by technical presuppositions and definitions, the community of IT scholars is now legitimate as one new kind of legal community too, and new forms of dialogue with the traditional legal communities (judges, legal scholars, professional legal associations) are to be found. Secondly, it may lead to the extreme the reduction of what is lecit from the juridical point of view to what is technically made possible by IT (“Code is Law”1), thus increasing exponentially the level of artificiality in legal behaviour. As a matter of fact, in order for the technical framework to be efficient it needs to have a complete dominance of the pragmatic conditions of the behaviour which is supposed to comply, realizing a level of control never attained before by the legal rule alone. I suggest to call this last phenomenon – which is open to discussion – “Hyper-positivity”.
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Quello dell'incommensurabilità delle relazioni che l'uomo istituisce, pratica, conosce e discute, è un tema antico. Emerge dal profondo della storia e del simbolismo stesso con cui si forma la cultura Occidentale e ne influenza... more
Quello dell'incommensurabilità delle relazioni che l'uomo istituisce, pratica, conosce e discute, è un tema antico. Emerge dal profondo della storia e del simbolismo stesso con cui si forma la cultura Occidentale e ne influenza ciclicamente l'assetto delle credenze di base, ivi incluse quelle relative ai fondamenti della conoscenza e della giustizia. La sua razionalizzazione nella classicità conduce, con sorprendente lucidità, al cuore del problema giuridico: quello della necessità di una decisionericonoscibile pubblicamente come razionale-su un conflitto in periclitante rischio di degenerare nella violenza.
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Recourse to precedents in legal adjudication is a source of intriguing theoretical challenges and serious practical difficulties. That is especially so when we have to do not with domestic precedents but with foreign ones, that is, with... more
Recourse to precedents in legal adjudication is a source of intriguing theoretical challenges and serious practical difficulties. That is especially so when we have to do not
with domestic precedents but with foreign ones, that is, with decisions taken by foreign
courts and international judicial institutions, particularly when there is no formal obligation for a court to resort to foreign law. Can a case decided by the judiciary of a
different legal order have any bearing on a dispute arising domestically here and now?
Should such a foreign precedent be acknowledged to have any (formal) binding force
on the case in question? How could the practice of following foreign precedents be
justified? This paper is primarily meant to lay the theoretical basis on which those
questions can be addressed. The basis on which we proceed in answering those questions essentially lies in a theory of legal reasoning that, for lack of a better phrase, can be labelled a dialectical approach informed by standards of discursive rationality
with domestic precedents but with foreign ones, that is, with decisions taken by foreign
courts and international judicial institutions, particularly when there is no formal obligation for a court to resort to foreign law. Can a case decided by the judiciary of a
different legal order have any bearing on a dispute arising domestically here and now?
Should such a foreign precedent be acknowledged to have any (formal) binding force
on the case in question? How could the practice of following foreign precedents be
justified? This paper is primarily meant to lay the theoretical basis on which those
questions can be addressed. The basis on which we proceed in answering those questions essentially lies in a theory of legal reasoning that, for lack of a better phrase, can be labelled a dialectical approach informed by standards of discursive rationality
Research Interests:
This paper endorses the idea that the right to contest provided for by art. 22, § 3 GDPR, actually is the apex of a progressive set of tools the data subject has at his disposal to cope with automatic decisions and it should work as an... more
This paper endorses the idea that the right to contest provided for by art. 22, § 3 GDPR, actually is the apex of a progressive set of tools the data subject has at his disposal to cope with automatic decisions and it should work as an architectural principle to create contestable systems. But in order to achieve that important role, it cannot be reduce to the right of human intervention, also provided for by art.22, § 3, nor to a generic opposition to the outcome of the automatic processing. Thus, drawing from a thorough analysis of the relationships among the rights included in art. 22, § 3 GDPR as well as from the juridical proper meaning of “contestatio”, it is concluded that the right to contest has its own proper nature as a hybrid substantial-processual right that is able to give concrete shape to all the other rights indicated in art. 22, § 3, included the much discussed right to explanation.
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Data Mining (DM) is the analytical activity aimed at revealing new “knowledge” from data useful for further decision-making processes. These techniques have recently acquired enormous importance as they seem to fit perfectly the requests... more
Data Mining (DM) is the analytical activity aimed at revealing new “knowledge” from data useful for further decision-making processes. These techniques have recently acquired enormous importance as they seem to fit perfectly the requests of the so called “Data Driven World”. In this paper, first I give an overview of DM, and of the most relevant criticisms raised so far. Then using a well-known case study and the European General Data Protection Regulation as benchmark, I show that there are some specific ambiguities in this use of “knowledge” which are relevant for the ethical and legal assessment of DM.
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The advent of Blockchain technologies is often seen as the decisive precondition to create an environment suitable for the automation of legal relationships on a large scale. This, in turn, has suggested to many the idea of a paradigm... more
The advent of Blockchain technologies is often seen as the decisive precondition to create an environment suitable for the automation of legal relationships on a large scale. This, in turn, has suggested to many the idea of a paradigm shift in the very core of private law, that is, the concept of "contract", which should put it in line with the requirements of the "Fourth Revolution". Accordingly, "smart contracts" - computerised transaction protocols that execute the terms of a contract - are now being introduced in many legal systems along with significant normative modifications to make them work as proper juridical tools. This essay discusses what prevents the "automated game" to absorb the complexities of a full contractual existential relation.
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In the last few years the problem of the influence of neuroscientific research on the juridical world has enjoyed a huge amount of interest, though the “neuroscience vs law” approach is sometimes unfold without a previous clarification of... more
In the last few years the problem of the influence of neuroscientific research on the juridical world has enjoyed a huge amount of interest, though the “neuroscience vs law” approach is sometimes unfold without a previous clarification of the conditions and the limits that permit a legitimate comparison between speeches and social practices (those under the general lables “science” and, respectively, “law”) originated and conducted within theoretical paradigms so distant. In other words, very often the juxtaposition between “neuroscience” and “law”, as well as the speculations built on it, are led leaving unexpressed definitions and theoretical presuppositions about the concepts of “law” and “science” employed, trusting on a share of intuitive common places about something which has been considered “essentially contested” instead. Thus, the aim of this paper is twofold: first, I will critically espose some epistemological issues emerged at the turn of the XX century, focusing on som...
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Recourse to precedents in legal adjudication is a source of intriguing theoretical challenges and serious practical difficulties. That is especially so when we have to do not with domestic precedents but with foreign ones, that is, with... more
Recourse to precedents in legal adjudication is a source of intriguing theoretical challenges and serious practical difficulties. That is especially so when we have to do not with domestic precedents but with foreign ones, that is, with decisions taken by foreign courts and international judicial institutions, particularly when there is no formal obligation for a court to resort to foreign law. Can a case decided by the judiciary of a different legal order have any bearing on a dispute arising domestically here and now? Should such a foreign precedent be acknowledged to have any (formal) binding force on the case in question? How could the practice of following foreign precedents be justified? This paper is primarily meant to lay the theoretical basis on which those questions can be addressed. The basis on which we proceed in answering those questions essentially lies in a theory of legal reasoning that, for lack of a better phrase, can be labelled a dialectical approach informed by...
Research Interests:
This work continues the research started in "Positività e Giurisprudenza. Teoria e prassi della formazione giudiziale del diritto" (see other uploads), looking at the various ways in which law gains its status of... more
This work continues the research started in "Positività e Giurisprudenza. Teoria e prassi della formazione giudiziale del diritto" (see other uploads), looking at the various ways in which law gains its status of "positive" in the contemporary globalized world. It brings some more evidence for criticising the traditional mono-typical view of "law positivization", arguing for a "pluri-typical" approach: law acquires its positive status through very different ways, each of them asking for specific critical evaluation. (this file is delivered to the community for research purposes only)
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espanolEl articulo 22 del Reglamento General de Proteccion de Datos (GDPR) preve la prohibicion de decisiones basadas unicamente en el tratamiento automatizado de datos que produzcan efectos juridicos en la persona interesada o le afecte... more
espanolEl articulo 22 del Reglamento General de Proteccion de Datos (GDPR) preve la prohibicion de decisiones basadas unicamente en el tratamiento automatizado de datos que produzcan efectos juridicos en la persona interesada o le afecte significativamente de modo similar. Sin embargo, tambien se indican tres excepciones significativas para las cuales el art. 22.3 requiere algunas salvaguardas adicionales y proporciona al sujeto de los datos otros derechos especificos. Este trabajo sostiene que esas salvaguardas minimas se ordenan en una linea progresiva que llega a su culmen con el “derecho a impugnar la decision”, que a su vez debe considerarse como el mas completo. Sobre la base de su significado juridico especifico, tambien se argumenta que, para poder ejercerlo plenamente, la parte interesada debe tener la oportunidad de comprender completamente los aspectos tecnicos involucrados en el proceso, si es necesario. En otras palabras, el derecho de impugnacion parece presuponer un d...
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Neuroscience and Law
In recent years, the influence of the second generation of cognitive science on legal literature has led to an important flourishing of studies dedicated to the role of metaphor in legal experience. This topic has been underestimated by... more
In recent years, the influence of the second generation of cognitive science on legal literature has led to an important flourishing of studies dedicated to the role of metaphor in legal experience. This topic has been underestimated by legal scholars for long time, as it can be seen by a comparison of the academic production in almost every other field of research since the Fifties. Notwithstanding this "metaphor renaissance", the current approach moves towards the application of the framework elaborated for conceptual metaphor in general to instances of it in legal matters, in other words, legal metaphors are studied simply as metaphors tout court. But our western classical tradition assigns a very special place to metaphor exactly in the heart of legal practices, in a framework that see Rhetoric as the art of building that specific kind of discourses. Researching into the core of this intimate connection between ancient Rhetoric and metaphor we find that a major issue that is at stake there has been completely removed from contemporary approach because of the detachment of Rhetoric from its specific traditional fields. That issue is the epistemic necessity as well as the ethical and political duty to avoid the fall of oppositions into incommensurable claims.
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In this paper I present a first assessment of the ethical and legal issues raised by a new kind of technology based on human-robot integration aimed at the assistance of disable people in delivering ordinary tasks. In particular, I am... more
In this paper I present a first assessment of the ethical and legal issues raised by a new kind of technology based on human-robot integration aimed at the assistance of disable people in delivering ordinary tasks. In particular, I am concerned with active exoskeletons, with integrated biometric data analysis capacities as well as ambient intelligence, for supporting upper limbs movements in achieving practical goals. After a brief review of the state of the art of the ethical literature on point, I will deal in particular with three main issues: a) the protection of rights and freedom of the subjects whose movements are supported; b) the legitimacy of different kinds of data processing; c) the evaluation of the responsibility for damages related to the interaction between human and robotic agency.
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In this paper I present an analytical discussion on the right to contest automated decisions in the European General Data Protection Regulation. In particular, I am concerned with the mutual relationships between the rights that must be... more
In this paper I present an analytical discussion on the right to contest automated decisions in the European General Data Protection Regulation. In particular, I am concerned with the mutual relationships between the rights that must be guaranteed according to art. 22, § 3, in those exceptional cases in which a complete algorithmic decision is allowed. I argue that a relational approach is needed to deeply understand how those safeguard measures may work together and to show where they interfere with one another creating the risk of a mutual exhaustion that may leave the data subject defenceless. After a brief review of the interpretative issues on art. 22 GDPR (§ 2), this paper focuses on the conceptual consistency and practicability of the rights provided for therein (§3), then it discusses in detail the relationships between the right to human intervention and the right to contest focusing on issues such as mutual exclusiveness and potential recursive automation(§4), determining the proper content of the right to contest (§5), and solving the issues raised (§6).
Research Interests:
This paper endorses the idea that the right to contest provided for by art. 22, § 3 GDPR, actually is the apex of a progressive set of tools the data subject has at his disposal to cope with automatic decisions and it should work as an... more
This paper endorses the idea that the right to contest provided for by art. 22, § 3 GDPR, actually is the apex of a progressive set of tools the data subject has at his disposal to cope with automatic decisions and it should work as an architectural principle to create contestable systems. But in order to achieve that important role, it cannot be reduce to the right of human intervention, also provided for by art.22, § 3, nor to a generic opposition to the outcome of the automatic processing. Thus, drawing from a thorough analysis of the relationships among the rights included in art. 22, § 3 GDPR as well as from the juridical proper meaning of "contestatio", it is concluded that the right to contest has its own proper nature as a hybrid substantial-processual right that is able to give concrete shape to all the other rights indicated in art. 22, § 3, included the much discussed right to explanation.
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SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione. La metafora del “dialogo” tra corti — 2. Il simile nella fisiologia del linguaggio e le esigenze di controllo giuridico — 3. Della giurisprudenza influente: piccola fenomenologia della circolazione del formante... more
SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione. La metafora del “dialogo” tra corti — 2. Il simile nella fisiologia del linguaggio e le esigenze di controllo giuridico — 3. Della giurisprudenza influente: piccola fenomenologia della circolazione del formante giurisprudenziale — 4. La giustificazione analogica e le sue critiche — 5. Il giudice e il dialogo con se stesso — 6. Conclusioni: dialettica della giurisprudenza pratica — 7. Bibliografia
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Abstract: In this work I discuss a peculiar trend in contemporary european and italian legislation aiming at reducing fundamental legal concepts within the boundaries of technical categories of IT. Some crucial examples are presented, and... more
Abstract: In this work I discuss a peculiar trend in contemporary european and italian legislation aiming at reducing fundamental legal concepts within the boundaries of technical categories of IT. Some crucial examples are presented, and a general overview of the consequences is given. In first place, this phenomenon changes the way in which the legal norm is derived asking for a modification of the composition in the set of communities whose interpretative work is necessary for making the legal rule work in the society. Since the main framework is made by technical presuppositions and definitions, the community of IT scholars is now legitimate as one new kind of legal community too, and new forms of dialogue with the traditional legal communities (judges, legal scholars, professional legal associations) are to be found. Secondly, it may
lead to the extreme the reduction of what is lecit from the juridical point of view to what is technically made possible by IT (“Code is Law”1), thus increasing exponentially the level of artificiality in legal behaviour. As a matter of fact, in order for the technical framework to be efficient it needs to have a complete dominance of the pragmatic conditions of the behaviour which is supposed to comply, realizing a level of control
never attained before by the legal rule alone. I suggest to call this last phenomenon – which is open to discussion – “Hyper-positivity”.
lead to the extreme the reduction of what is lecit from the juridical point of view to what is technically made possible by IT (“Code is Law”1), thus increasing exponentially the level of artificiality in legal behaviour. As a matter of fact, in order for the technical framework to be efficient it needs to have a complete dominance of the pragmatic conditions of the behaviour which is supposed to comply, realizing a level of control
never attained before by the legal rule alone. I suggest to call this last phenomenon – which is open to discussion – “Hyper-positivity”.
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Abstract: Art. 22 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides for the prohibition of decisions based “solely” on automated data processing which may have legal effects concerning the data subject... more
Abstract: Art. 22 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides for the prohibition of decisions based “solely” on automated data processing which may have legal effects concerning the data subject or “similarly affects” him or her. However, three significant exceptions are also indicated. Since these cases are supposed to be exceptional, art. 22.3 requires some additional safeguards and provides the data subject with extra rights. This work argues that those minimal safeguards are ordered in a progressive line that reaches its climax with the “right to contest”, which in turn has to be seen as the most comprehensive. Drawing from the juridical proper meaning of it, it is also argued that in order to be fully exercised, the data subject must be allowed to deeply understand the technicalities involved in the processing, if needed. In other words, the right to contest seems to presuppose a right to explanation, whose existence in the GDPR is currently highly discussed. Since there is an intimate link between the two, I suggest revising the notion of “explanation” rejecting any abstract definition and adopting a relative and contextual one, strictly linked to the particular way in which the contestation needs to be mediated.
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Il filo conduttore dei saggi raccolti in questo volume è il "ciclo della datificazione", vale a dire quella modalità di organizzazione dell'esperienza che si muove attraverso la sequela ricorsiva... more
Il filo conduttore dei saggi raccolti in questo volume è il "ciclo della datificazione", vale a dire quella modalità di organizzazione dell'esperienza che si muove attraverso la sequela ricorsiva eventi-dati-conoscenza-decisione-azione-eventi. Quello che è il tipico modo di pensare l'efficientamento di un'organizzazione sta divenendo la struttura fondamentale dello sviluppo complessivo delle società più evolute, assurgendo a nuovo paradigma universale di interpretazione e di orientamento della prassi che ha nella manipolabilità il suo tratto essenziale. Riflettendo su ciascun momento della datificazione, l' Autore indaga i profili ideologici, epistemologici e giuridico-sociali di una trasformazione che ha già sfidato la capacità di resistenza delle categorie fondamentali della comprensione giuridica contemporanea espresse in particolare nei diritti della persona.
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This book tries to focus on the ultimate presupposition in juridical discourse that see Law essentially connotated by the idea of order. Even in contemporary experience where all modern traditional categories (such as the idea of State,... more
This book tries to focus on the ultimate presupposition in juridical discourse that see Law essentially connotated by the idea of order. Even in contemporary experience where all modern traditional categories (such as the idea of State, of law as a perfectly coherent system, of mechanical judicial reasoning and so on) are undergoing a profound crisis, scholars associate the idea of order to Law, at least in a prescriptive way: even if you know that law actually is not a well ordered thing, you have to think about it as it is. A more detail analysis shows that it is the idea of a hierarchical order which is at the basis of juridical thinking even if there is a lot of criticism about the very idea of hierarchy (or the famous "pyramid" image) as a correct image for law. It seems that every time we try to go over the negative side of the criticism and offer a positive theoretical construction, again we are bound to resort to the old hierarchical presupposition. A philosophical reflection on the history of this concept is developed and, strange as it might seems, the term itself is not so ancient as one would believe, it enters the western tradition in Ix cent. a.C, with the translation of the Corpus Aeropagiticum (which nowadays is dated around the V-VI cent. a.C). The book tries to focus on the reasons at the core of this very important translation for western culture and a new light is shed over the philosophical meaning of the western reception of the late neoplatonic hierarchical speculation and, as a consequence, even the reasons for the persistence of a hierarchical thinking in law seems clearer.
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The book deals with the use of metaphor in juridical discourse. It discusses the aristotelian notion of metaphor with particular reference to its role in rhetorics as the art of constructing trustful speeches with the aim to reach a... more
The book deals with the use of metaphor in juridical discourse. It discusses the aristotelian notion of metaphor with particular reference to its role in rhetorics as the art of constructing trustful speeches with the aim to reach a decision where credible alternatives are at disposal and the decision is unavoidable (this is why Law is one of the only three field for rhetoric in Aristotle). Using the "processual approach to Law" the book tries to see metaphor in action in judicial discourse, as well as doctrinal discussions, and normative regulation. The philosophico-historical recontruction justifies the proposal contained in the book to see rhetorical metaphor as a device to manipulate the endoxial environment in those case in which there is a concrete risk for incommensurable discourses and, as a consequence of the particular adversarial structure of the context based on the necessity to decide, also a concrete risk for Hybris among men.
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Parlare di “positività giuridica” significa, in senso generalissimo, discutere del modo in cui si dà nell’esperienza qualcosa che possiamo rilevare intersoggettivamente come “diritto”, di come avviene che “si ponga” un certo contenuto... more
Parlare di “positività giuridica” significa, in senso generalissimo,
discutere del modo in cui si dà nell’esperienza qualcosa che
possiamo rilevare intersoggettivamente come “diritto”, di come
avviene che “si ponga” un certo contenuto giuridico piuttosto
che un altro, con quali forme venga rivestito e quali processi,
auspicabilmente razionali, individuali o collettivi, siano stati messi
in atto per ottenerlo.
In questo lavoro, giusfilosofi di importanti università italiane e
spagnole si confrontano con i molti percorsi possibili della positività
giuridica, offrendo uno spaccato vivace delle problematiche che
il pensiero giuridico contemporaneo si trova ad affrontare per
riempire di senso anche i propri concetti primi e per continuare a
porsi come punto di riferimento di un’evoluzione equa e razionale
del diritto e delle società complesse.
Ciò che emerge chiaramente, pur nella diversità di approcci al tema
che gli Autori qui raccolti hanno offerto, è un altissimo grado di
interdisciplinarietà che evidenzia il bisogno di una trasformazione
culturale del giurista contemporaneo, chiamato ad un allargamento
dei suoi saperi di base, sia per la miglior comprensione dei
fondamenti teorici del suo stesso sapere che per consentire il
dialogo con il complesso delle comunità che con lui operano nella
costruzione sociale
discutere del modo in cui si dà nell’esperienza qualcosa che
possiamo rilevare intersoggettivamente come “diritto”, di come
avviene che “si ponga” un certo contenuto giuridico piuttosto
che un altro, con quali forme venga rivestito e quali processi,
auspicabilmente razionali, individuali o collettivi, siano stati messi
in atto per ottenerlo.
In questo lavoro, giusfilosofi di importanti università italiane e
spagnole si confrontano con i molti percorsi possibili della positività
giuridica, offrendo uno spaccato vivace delle problematiche che
il pensiero giuridico contemporaneo si trova ad affrontare per
riempire di senso anche i propri concetti primi e per continuare a
porsi come punto di riferimento di un’evoluzione equa e razionale
del diritto e delle società complesse.
Ciò che emerge chiaramente, pur nella diversità di approcci al tema
che gli Autori qui raccolti hanno offerto, è un altissimo grado di
interdisciplinarietà che evidenzia il bisogno di una trasformazione
culturale del giurista contemporaneo, chiamato ad un allargamento
dei suoi saperi di base, sia per la miglior comprensione dei
fondamenti teorici del suo stesso sapere che per consentire il
dialogo con il complesso delle comunità che con lui operano nella
costruzione sociale
Research Interests:
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Call for Papers The developments in information technology do more than merely project our personal, economic and social relationships into a digital realm. In fact, they feed the construction of a socio-digital world where society and... more
Call for Papers The developments in information technology do more than merely project our personal, economic and social relationships into a digital realm. In fact, they feed the construction of a socio-digital world where society and digital technology are increasingly bound together and new models of social order emerge. Far from ending up in traditional legal norms, the regulation of such a hybrid reality is fed by the convergence of heterogeneous regulatory mechanisms, normative ecosystems that encompass code-driven techno rules, social norms and other emergent forms of organisation that shape the world we live in and that it is ever more important to explore both as single entities and in their mutual relations.
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Law Cast è un podcast ideato dal professor Claudio Sarra, già Responsabile dell’Orientamento della Scuola di Giurisprudenza dell’Università degli Studi di Padova, realizzato dalla Scuola di Giurisprudenza e dall’Associazione Alumni... more
Law Cast è un podcast ideato dal professor Claudio Sarra, già Responsabile dell’Orientamento della Scuola di Giurisprudenza dell’Università degli Studi di Padova, realizzato dalla Scuola di Giurisprudenza e dall’Associazione Alumni dell’Università di Padova.
La mission del progetto è quella di congiungere le generazioni di giuristi per fare in modo che la Scuola di giurisprudenza diventi un centro di socialità giuridica intergenerazionale. L’obiettivo è di far conoscere le risorse dell’attuale percorso giuridico formativo universitario e di consentire ai più giovani di intravedere percorsi reali di sviluppo professionale.
La mission del progetto è quella di congiungere le generazioni di giuristi per fare in modo che la Scuola di giurisprudenza diventi un centro di socialità giuridica intergenerazionale. L’obiettivo è di far conoscere le risorse dell’attuale percorso giuridico formativo universitario e di consentire ai più giovani di intravedere percorsi reali di sviluppo professionale.
Research Interests:
If you are currently working on issues related to Law and Technology, please consider sending your work to the Journal of Ethics and Legal technologies. This is an open access, peer-reviewed Journal published by PAdova University Press,... more
If you are currently working on issues related to Law and Technology, please consider sending your work to the Journal of Ethics and Legal technologies.
This is an open access, peer-reviewed Journal published by PAdova University Press, focusing on intersectionalities among Law, Ethics and Technological achievements. Its aim is to create a place for interdisciplinary dialogue and to create the basis for future academic collaborations.
This is an open access, peer-reviewed Journal published by PAdova University Press, focusing on intersectionalities among Law, Ethics and Technological achievements. Its aim is to create a place for interdisciplinary dialogue and to create the basis for future academic collaborations.
If you are currently working on Law and Technology related issues, please consider send your work to the Journal of Ethics and Legal Technologies. This is an open access, peer-reviewed Journal published by Padova University Press,... more
If you are currently working on Law and Technology related issues, please consider send your work to the Journal of Ethics and Legal Technologies.
This is an open access, peer-reviewed Journal published by Padova University Press, dealing with highly interdisciplinary works, which focuses on creating dialogue between scholars working on intersectionalities between Ethics, Law and New Technologies
This is an open access, peer-reviewed Journal published by Padova University Press, dealing with highly interdisciplinary works, which focuses on creating dialogue between scholars working on intersectionalities between Ethics, Law and New Technologies