La tutela ambientale dell’impresa agro-alimentare. Tra sanzione, prevenzione e riparazione

The thesis explores the role of agri-food businesses in environmental protection from the perspective of corporate criminal liability in the Italian legal system. The importance of focusing on environmental offenses committed by agri-food businesses is supported by several factors: EU agricultural policies aim for a more sustainable agri-food system, scientific evidence highlights the high environmental impact of food-related systems, and agri-food businesses manage nearly 40% of the EU’s land. In particular, the research defines the concept of agro-environmental offenses: offenses that may be formally classified as criminal or administrative but are substantively criminal. These offenses primarily occur within agri-food businesses and cause harm to the environment. In the Italian legal system, agro-environmental offenses present several issues. From a sanctioning perspective, they are often not covered by corporate liability under Legislative Decree 231/2001. This gap also affects prevention, as agri-food businesses have little incentive to implement environmental compliance measures. Finally, there are challenges in the area of remediation. Under the current Italian framework of Legislative Decree 231/2001, a company that has repaired the environmental damage and reorganized itself cannot be exempted from penalties.