Full professor of Criminal Law at the University of Palermo (Law School).
Author of over 180 publications, including over 60 international works, with a focus on European and comparative perspectives on: Negligence, Recklessness, Causality, Self-defence, Sentencing, Protection of Life and Property, Offences against the State, Transnational Organized Crime, Illicit Trades in the Mediterranean, Corporate Criminal Liability, Private Bribery, Relations between Criminal Theory and Criminal Policy, Functions of criminal sanctions, Principles of International Criminal Law.
Co-director of the Books Series Quaderni di diritto penale comparato, internazionale ed europeo. Member of the editorial boards of international and national journals. Lecturer at international workshops and meetings in various continents. Principal Investigator of European and International Projects. Fellow of the Alexander v. Humboldt Stiftung andEU-Jean Monnet programme(Module and Centre of Excellence).
Since 2010 Honorary Consul of Germany for Central and Western Sicily.