Guest researchers and doctoral students

Luca Strazzera
Università degli studi di Sassari

Guest: 04 -10 2024 

Main research interest:  Italian civil law.

Biography:
Luca Strazzera is a doctoral student at the University of Cagliari. His stay is for research purposes for his dissertation project in the field of civil law on the topic of "L'impatto dell'Intelligenza Artificiale sull'attività negoziale". The introduction of advanced and autonomous software in the performance of private autonomous actions - in particular in the area of ​​negotiation, conclusion and performance of contracts - raises new questions about the legal relevance of this entity and also raises classic questions about the nature of the will underlying private autonomy. The research therefore focuses on comparing the foundations and consequences of the two possible philosophical and legal approaches: on the one hand, the traditional classification of AI as a pure "res" and, on the other hand, the recognition of its (also) legal autonomy. 

Simone Angei
Università degli studi di Sassari

Guest: 03 -09 2024 

Main research interest: Italian civil law.

Biography:
Simone Angei is a lawyer at the Cagliari Bar Association and a doctoral student at the University of Sassari. Since March 2024 he has been a guest at the Institute of Italian Law at the University of Innsbruck, where he took part in the course "Sostenibilità nel diritto civile e commerciale" by Prof. F.A. Schurr. In this context, he gave a lecture entitled "Sostenibilità e libertà di iniziativa economica. Limiti costituzionali". His current studies, for which the analysis of the approach of the Austrian and German legal systems is important, focus on the liability of management and coordination activities under Art. 2497 of the Italian Civil Code, applied to non-corporate entities.

Christoph Simon Thun Hohenstein Welsperg
University of Trento

Guest: 08 -10 2023

Main research interests: Italian criminal law (general part), comparative criminal law.

Biography:
Christoph Simon Thun Hohenstein Welsperg is a PhD candidate in Comparative and European Legal Studies at the University of Trento, curriculum Law and Criminal Procedure and Philosophy of Law. He focuses in particular on comparative criminal law (general part). He graduated with honours from the University of Trento with a thesis on comparative criminal law, tutor Prof. Sergio Bonini, after spending a four-month erasmus period at the Rechtswissenschaftliche Fakultät, Universität Wien. He has collaborated with the Observatory on Justice of Peace, Conciliatory and Restorative Justice at the University of Trento under the direction of the scientific heads Prof. Teresa Pasquino and Prof. Gabriele Fornasari and the coordination of Dr. Elena Mattevi. He is qualified to practise as a lawyer.

Stefano Maria Ronco
University of Turin

Guest: 08 2023

Main areas of research: Criminal tax law and pre-trial tax law.

Biography:
Stefano Maria Ronco is a type A fixed-term researcher at the Department of Law, University of Turin. He has carried out research stays at several prestigious institutions, including the Max Planck Institut and at the Bank of Italy. His main areas of expertise are tax litigation, tax criminal law and EU tax law.

Giulia Curcuruto
University of Catania

Guest: 03 - 07 2023

Main areas of research: Commercial law; Banking law; Fintech law.

Biography:
Giulia Curcuruto graduated cum laude in Law at the University of Catania with a thesis in Civil Execution Law entitled "Enforcement on cryptocurrency: problematic profiles and possible solutions", supervisor Prof.ssa Concetta Marino. During her university years, she spent a semester studying at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), did a three-month curricular traineeship at the Political-Commercial Office of the Italian Embassy in Brussels (Belgium), and also did the early traineeship ex art. 41 c. 6 lett. d L. 247/2012 for access to the legal profession.

From November 2021 to September 2022, she practised law at the State District Attorney's Office in Catania.

She was admitted to the XXXVII cycle of the PhD in Law (International) at the University of Catania and is the recipient of a PON Research and Innovation scholarship. She collaborates regularly with the chair of commercial law at the Department of Economics and Business and the Department of Law at the University of Catania.

Francesco Camplani
Università degli studi di Napoli "Parthenope"

Between November 2019 and January 2020, Francesco Camplani from Rome, PhD student in Criminal Law at the University of Naples "Parthenope", carried out research at the Institute of Italian Law. He is a former trainee lawyer at the 6th Criminal Section of the Court of Cassation and a voluntary assistant at the "Marconi" University of Rome. His dissertation project is entitled "Illeciti nella gestione e nel traffico di rifiuti, tutela dell'ambiente e compliance programs" (Crimes in the management and trade of waste, environmental protection and compliance programmes) and has a strong comparative law component. Among other things, Mr Camplani examines the question of whether the environment should be regarded as a legal asset and how the current Italian legislation on environmental offences could be improved. Neighbouring countries such as Germany and Austria can serve as role models. He then examines the question of how such offences can best be prevented in the case of associations. Mr Camplani is also conducting further research activities in the field of cybercrime.

Stefania Rossi
Università degli studi di Trento / Università europea di Roma

Dr Stefania Rossi was a guest at our institute several times in 2019. She is a contract professor of criminal law and works with the Faculty of Law at the University of Trento and the Università Europea di Roma. During her stay in Innsbruck, her research focussed on the criminal liability profiles in connection with the practice of high-risk winter sports. Avalanches caused by sports and leisure activities in the mountains are a very topical issue that affects all countries in the Alpine arc. Avalanches caused by ski tourers, freeriders and hikers are an increasingly widespread phenomenon, influenced by the massive anthropisation of Alpine areas. This is caused by tourism marketing that repeatedly emphasises the opportunities for off-piste skiing in order to satisfy the desires of a demanding clientele in search of strong emotions. However, the impact of such events raises precise questions of responsibility for a number of public and private organisations. They also affect the main legal institutions of criminal law and should therefore be analysed as part of a broader reflection on the personal responsibility of the actor. More information about Dr Rossi and her research you can find here.

Caroline Alice Schmitt-Mücke
University of Greifswald

From July to October 2019, Ms Caroline Alice Schmitt-Mücke (Dipl.-Jur.) from the University of Greifswald was a visiting researcher at the Institute of Italian Law. The stay serves as research for the comparative law doctoral project with the topic "The civil law protection of personality from press reporting in German and Italian law". The collision of personality interests and information interests through the press is a problem that transcends legal and cultural boundaries and is not losing its topicality due to the constant change in mass communication media. In German and Italian law, this is largely left to the judiciary in the absence of statutory regulation, which makes a comparison of the wide-ranging casuistry of supreme court rulings appropriate. The work is intended to pick up from there and deal with the comparison of typical case constellations in order to be able to recognise abstract demarcation criteria.

Juan Pablo Murga Fernández
Universidad de Sevilla

In January and June 2019, Professor Juan Pablo Murga Fernández from the Universidad de Sevilla (Spain) was an LFUI Guest Professor at the Institute of Italian Law. During his stay, Prof Murga Fernández gave lectures on "Comparative property law from a European perspective" and "Comparative Succession Law" as well as several presentations "Property from a Comparative Perspective. The transfer of goods from a European comparative perspective"; "Payment of Debts in Succession Law. A European Comparative Perspective"; "Succession Rights from Cohabitants from a Comparative Perspective"

Further information on Prof Murga Fernández and his research can be found at here and here.

Alexandra Braun
University of Edinburgh

Professor Alexandra Braun from the University of Edinburgh spent two weeks at the University of Innsbruck as a BritInn Fellow in June 2019. Her host was the Head of the Institute of Italian Law, Prof Gregor Christandl.

In addition to her research activities, Professor Braun gave a lecture at the conference "The new Austrian inheritance law from a comparative law and practical perspective" on "Promises of inheritance and care legacies from a comparative law perspective".

Further information on her stay can be found at

Britinn Fellow Professor Alexandra Braun in Innsbruck

Britinn Academic Network Britain-Innsbruck

Andrea Bigiarini
Università degli studi di Trento

In August 2018, dott. Andrea Bigiarini, doctoral candidate in criminal procedural law at the University of Trento, spent a short research visit in Innsbruck. In his dissertation entitled"The progressive erosion of the criminal res judicata as a result of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights", he takes a critical look at the impact of the lack of implementation of ECtHR judgements on the Italian criminal justice system. As there is still a lack of provisions for the implementation of ECtHR judgements in Italy, it is the responsibility of Italian judges to adapt domestic law de facto to international case law. The extent to which this practice has a positive effect on the Italian legal system is the subject of this research. The curriculum vitae of dott. Bigiarini can be found at here.

Elena Mattevi
Università degli studi di Trento

From July to September 2018, Elena Mattevi, PhD, assistant and contract professor of criminal law at the University of Trento, was a guest at our institute. During her research stay, she focussed on the topic of"Victims and Restorative Justice". In view of the often ineffective traditional criminal sanctions, it is necessary to look for alternative solutions and appropriate measures that are better suited to restoring justice and social peace in specific cases. In her research work, Elena Mattevi therefore examines the various European models of restorative justice. She pays particular attention to the approaches in Austria and Germany. The rewarding legal comparison allows new insights to be gained in connection with the innovations being considered in Italy. Further information can be found at here and here - the research carried out at our institute is described in more detail at here.

Laura Guercio
Università degli studi di Perugia

Laura Guercio, university lecturer in the sociology of human rights at the University of Perugia, carried out a research stay at our institute to deepen her analysis of the topicality of Günther Jakobs' theory of the criminal law of the enemy and its sociological and legal implications in contemporary democratic systems. The results of this analysis have so far contributed to the publication of "Il Nemico" (with M. Anselmi) and the handbook "Sociologia dei diritti umani" (with P. Blokker), both published by Mondadori Editore-Education. Prof Guercio is Secretary General of the Interministerial Committee for Human Rights of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italian member of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and member of the Council of the European Law Institute. Her books include "Donne pace e sicurezza: tra essere e dover essere" (with V. Grassi, FrancoAngeli 2018) and "Women's rights after the Arab Spring: buds without flowers?" (Cambridge Scholars 2019).