The Crime of Noise Pollution: Which Legal Interest Should Be Protected? An EU Perspective and the Spanish and Italian Criminal Codes

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18543/ed.3442
Keywords: Criminal Law, Environmental Law, Noise Pollution, Noise, Environment

Abstract

Noise pollution is a two-sided crime: on the one hand, it involves protecting the environment, but on the other, it affects people’s health. Noise pollution as a crime has been addressed in case law and doctrine as an action that primarily harms citizens’ health, but paradoxically, in the Spanish Criminal Code, it is classified as an environmental crime. With this in mind, we will analyze European Union legislation on this phenomenon, more specifically the 2024 Directive on environmental crimes, as well as Italian legislation on noise pollution.

Received: 10.11.2025
Accepted: 16.12.2025

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Author Biography

Álvaro Alzina Lozano, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid. España

Profesor Permanente Laboral de Derecho Penal

Published
2025-12-27
How to Cite
Alzina Lozano, Álvaro. 2025. “The Crime of Noise Pollution: Which Legal Interest Should Be Protected? An EU Perspective and the Spanish and Italian Criminal Codes”. Estudios De Deusto 73 (2), 15-40. https://doi.org/10.18543/ed.3442.
Issue
Vol. 73 No. 2 (2025)
Section
Special Issue

Last update: 08/02/2022

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