La ‘diversione’ penale nel diritto dell’ambiente: spunti comparatistici per il sistema italiano

The status quo of environmental criminal law, designed by the code reform of 2015, presents several critical points, in particular in relation to the role of the criminal sanction. Comparison with other environmental protection systems can be useful in overcoming the resistance to abandoning the current approach prevalent in Italy, which sees the penal sanction as the preferred tool by the legislator. Using the principles of extrema ratio and subsidiarity of criminal law, it is hoped that alterna-tives to penal sanctions will be strengthened, with the aim of implementing a more effective system in terms of environmental prevention and restoration, also in light of current ecological sustainability policies.