The xylella fastidiosa case - A way for thinking on research damage in the Italian legal system

The aim of this paper is to analyse the state of the art of research damage on the Italian legal system and the actual development of liability connected with the research activity. In order to do this, we will take into consideration what is happening in Italy concerning the research on xylella fastidiosa. This is related to scientific progress which opened new fields and horizons to science, but often it carries fears and anxiety in the public opinion. Scientific development is essential for human progress and for a sustainable human impact on the world. A society which does not keep on studies and experiments is destined to stagnation and decline because without technological progress it can not be able to face future challenges. Nevertheless, scientific research has the potential of being dangerous as demonstrated by many studies and events. In this scenery, civil liability on the one hand could become the instrument to guarantee damaged subjects and on the other hand is the way to allow a healthy development of scientific research, because every human activity can be dangerous, but the fear of the unknown effects can not stop scientific progress, therefore the judicial system must to provide the appropriate rules to protect damaged subjects by the results of the research activities without block it. From this point of view, this gap could be highly fixed by civil liability.