Sindacato di costituzionalità e attuazione diffusa del diritto UE : il caso del principio di proporzionalità sanzionatoria

This paper examines the implications arising from the primacy of European Union law with regard to the relationship between constitutional review and the non-application of domestic law by the ordinary courts. The issue is addressed with regard to the principle of proportionality of punishment, in light of the case law of the Constitutional Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union. The latter has recognised the direct applicability of the principle, as set out in Article 49(3) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The shift in case law by the Luxembourg courts has been counterbalanced by recent rulings of the Constitutional Court, in an interplay from which interesting insights can be drawn regarding the evolution of the relationship between criminalconstitutional legality and the primacy of EU law on the one hand, and, on the other, between legislative discretion and judicial discretion.