Donato Castronuovo

Donato Castronuovo

Prof. Donato Castronuovo

Director of the Centre, Coordinator of the Business and Crime cluster.


Donato Castronuovo is a Full Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Ferrara Department of Law.

Since January 2025 he is President of the "Franco Bricola" Association.

After earning a law degree from the University of Bologna (1995) and a PhD from the University of Trento (1997-2001), he engaged in teaching and research activity at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (2002-2016), before taking up a post as a full professor in Ferrara (since 2016).

He has carried out research abroad, above all in Germany, at the Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Strafrecht und Krimonologie in Freiburg i.B.; and the Humboldt Universität in Berlin. He has also taught abroad, including as a Visiting Professor: Consejo General del Poder Judicial - Oviedo, Spain (2006); Université Paris X (Paris Ouest), Nanterre-La Défense (2017); Université de Strasbourg (2018); Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon (2018); École Nationale de la Magistrature, Paris (2018); Université de Corse “Pasquale Paoli”, Corte (2019 and 2024).

He has participated in numerous national and international research projects. He has also been a speaker at over 200 conferences and seminars in Italy and abroad.

He is a member of the scientific committee of several journals or study series; co-director (with Antonio Cavaliere, Luigi Kalb, Antonella Marandola, Giorgio Spangher and Luigi Stortoni) of the series Studies in Criminal Law and Procedure, Pacini Editore, Pisa (since 2017); member (since 2016) of the Management Committee of the journal DPEI – Diritto Penale Economia Impresa (www.dpei.it).

He has been a lawyer since 1998, registered with the Bologna Bar Association and qualified to practice before the higher courts. Since November 2018, he has been a full-time lecturer (registered in the special register of university professors – Bologna Bar Association Council). He has carried out and continues to carry out consultancy activities for leading law firms, major national companies, and public bodies in various areas of criminal law, with particular reference to corporate criminal law, as well as white-collar crime and medical malpractice.

Following selection as an 'expert in law of clearly established reputation,' in May 2021 he was appointed Judge of first instance for civil liability of magistrates of the Republic of San Marino (five-year term).

He is the author of numerous publications, some of which translated into foreign languages (German, French, Spanish), and monographs in particular: La colpa penale, 2009 and Principio di precauzione e diritto penale, 2012.

He is co-author of the textbook: Diritto penale della sicurezza sul lavoro, 2016; and co-editor of: La riforma dei delitti contro la salute pubblica, 2007 (with M. Donini); La sicurezza agroalimentare nella prospettiva europea. Prevenzione, precauzione, repressione, 2014 (with L. Foffani and A. Doval Pais); Casi di diritto penale dell’economia, vol. I: Impresa e mercato; (Cirio, Parmalat, Antonveneta, Bnl-Unipol), and vol. II: Impresa e sicurezza, (Porto Marghera, Eternit, Ilva, ThyssenKrupp), 2014 (with L. Foffani); Nulla è cambiato? Riflessioni sulla tortura, 2019 (with L. Stortoni); Confische e sanzioni patrimoniali nella dimensione interna ed europea, 2021 (with C. Grandi); Riforma Cartabia. La nuova giustizia penale, Padova, 2023 (with M. Donini, E.M. Mancuso, G. Varraso); Forme, riforme e valori per la giustizia penale futura, 2023 (con D. Negri); Compliance aziendale e responsabilità da reato degli enti collettivi, 2nd ed., Milan, 2024 Ipsoa (with G. De Simone, E. Ginevra, A. Lionzo, D. Negri, G. Varraso); Esposizione lavorativa a sostanze tossiche. Percorsi interdisciplinari tra prevenzione e responsabilità, 2025 (with S. Buoso and N. Murgia); Giustizia e società contemporanea. Sulle orme di Giacomo Matteotti penalista, 2025 (with D. Negri).

And, finally, he is the editor of the volume: Reati contro l’incolumità pubblica, in Trattato teorico-pratico di diritto penale - Nuova serie, diretto da F. Palazzo, C.E. Paliero, M. Pelissero, Torino, 2024.



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