Interpretazione evolutiva e tecnologia nella giurisprudenza delle Corti

di Chiara Graziani

SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione. – 2. Corti, interpretazione e tecnologia: uno sguardo “orizzontale”. – 2.1. Il contesto europeo: le corti interne. – 2.2. Corti, interpretazione e tecnologia: uno sguardo “verticale”. – 3. Corti, interpretazione e tecnologia: uno sguardo “orizzontale”. – 3.1. La Corte europea dei diritti dell’uomo. – 3.2. La Corte di giustizia dell’Unione europea. – 4. Alcune riflessioni conclusive.

This work examines the impact of the technological development in the case law of courts – not only supreme and constitutional, but also ordinary ones – in Western “advanced” democracies. In other words, the author aims to grasp to what extent the evolution of technology tools had an influence on how courts interpret some provisions (especially, but not just, constitutional ones). In order to restrict the scope of the analysis, this contribution addresses the above-mentioned topic from a specific perspective: that of the use of technology for public security purposes, with a focus on counter-terrorism measures. The analysis identifies different trends in the approach of courts to technology in their interpretative efforts and argues, first, that a “technologically-oriented interpretation” should be welcome, and, second, that courts should always explicitly clarify that they are interpreting some provisions in the light of the technological evolution. In this way, the importance of the reasoning of judicial decisions would be emphasized, benefitting both policy-makers and civil society.