Il necessario salto nel vuoto: la rimozione del giudicato per le sanzioni “sostanzialmente” penali dichiarate incostituzionali

The paper analyses an order for reference to the Italian constitutional court, raisingthe issue of constitutionality of art. 30.4 of Law no. 87/1953, to the extent this provision does not allow, following a declaration of unconstitutionality, the removal of the res iudicata for sanctions formally qualified as administrative, but substantially criminal, under the Engel criteria elaborated by the ECtHR. In particular, the paper debates: 1) the actual nature – either administrative or criminal – of the sanctions relevant in the case at stake, under the Engel criteria; 2) the possibility for the judge to apply art. 30.4 through interpretive tools, thus without an explicit declaration of unconstitutionality; 3) the exact scope of the issue of constitutionality and the potential consequences of such a declaration of unconstitutionality on the principles of res iudicata and legal certainty