Note minime in tema di sanzioni amministrative e “materia penale”

The aim of the contribution is to investigate the evolution of admi- nistrative sanctions in the Italian law. And this in order to underline how the summa divisio between the administrative sanctioning sy- stem and the penal sanctioning system is being overcome for certain aspects by the pressing and continuous solicitations that derive from the creative jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. Solicitations that are giving new relevance to a topic, that of admi- nistrative sanctions, which after having been put aside for many years, has now come back strongly at the centre of the doctrinal debate, both among the public and criminal lawyers. In particular, moving from the traditional dualism between the penal sanctioning system and the administrative sanctions system, we will first analyse the substantialist approach that has characterized the jurisprudence of the EDU Court for more than forty years, and then, back within national boundaries, we will focus on the consequences arising from such an interpretation.