About Macrocrimes
The Centre for European Legal Studies on Macro-Crime focuses on the legal aspects relating to the fight against “macro-crime”, a notion ranging from core crimes – such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression – to crimes entailing grave breaches of fundamental rights, crimes linked to immigration and organized, mafia-type, terrorist and transnational crime, from economic crime to environmental and food crime.
Macrocrimes was established at the Department of Law of the University of Ferrara in November 2018, within the framework of a project leading to its acknowledgment as one of the best Departments in Italy in terms of research quality ( “Dipartimenti di eccellenza”). The Centre optimises the resources and competences of the Department of Law and the University of Ferrara in this field, as well as developing networks with scholars, organizations and institutions involved in the fight against macro-crime and in the protection of fundamental rights at local, national, European and international level. It also promotes the dissemination of knowledge and expertise within the academic community, and among the general public as well, with the aim of raising awareness about the fight against organized crime and macro-crime in all its forms (see Art. 2 of the Statute).
In 2025, the Centre was awarded the recognition of “Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence” for the 2026–2028 period, securing European funding with the project MACROCRIMES – European Legal Studies on Macro-Crime.
The project aims to strengthen the European dimension of research and teaching on macro-crime phenomena, with particular attention to organized crime, corruption, and international crimes, promoting an interdisciplinary and multi-level approach.