In this capacity, they are responsible for multiple activities regarding the prevention and management of landslides, which include, pursuant to Article 6 of Legislative Decree No. 1/2018:

a) the implementation of national guidelines on civil protection;

b) the promotion, implementation, and coordination of civil protection activities, consisting of forecasting, prevention, and mitigation of risks, emergency management, and overcoming them, with particular reference to landslides and hydrogeological instability;

c) the allocation of financial resources aimed at carrying out civil protection activities;

d) the organization of the structures responsible for carrying out civil protection functions and the assignment of adequate personnel with specific expertise to these structures, also in relation to the activities of operational centers.

With specific reference to the prevention and management of landslides and hydrogeological instability, mayors, in line with what is provided by the Consolidated Law on Local Authorities, are also responsible, pursuant to Article 12 of Legislative Decree No. 1/2018:

a) for adopting, as government officials, urgent measures under Article 54 of Legislative Decree 267/2000, necessary to prevent and eliminate serious dangers to public safety, which is of particular importance in the context of landslide prevention and management;

b) for informing the population about risk scenarios, civil protection planning, and hazardous situations caused by natural risks, such as landslides and hydrogeological instability, or those resulting from human activity;

c) for coordinating assistance activities for the affected population in their territory, managed by the municipality, which provides initial interventions and implements what is foreseen by the civil protection plan, ensuring constant updates to the flow of information with the prefect and the regional president, as required;

d) for requesting, when the legal requirements are met, the intervention of additional regional operational forces from the region, as well as national operational forces from the prefect, ensuring constant updates to the flow of information with the latter and with the regional president during emergency events, and also overseeing the information activity directed at the population.

Mayors also issue urgent orders related to the urgent need for interventions aimed at overcoming situations of severe neglect or degradation of the territory and the environment, according to Article 51, Paragraph 5, of Legislative Decree 267/2000.

Finally, it is important to focus on the functions assigned to the prefect and their relationship with the responsibilities of mayors.

The prefect exercises various competencies within the National Civil Protection Service. In the event of an emergency, whether imminent or when its occurrence is forecasted according to the alerting methods established by law, the prefect, within their territorial competence, performs the following tasks, among others, pursuant to Article 9 of Legislative Decree No. 1/2018:

a) ensures a constant flow and exchange of information with the Civil Protection Department, the region, municipalities, and provinces, where delegated;

b) assumes, immediately upon the event, the unified direction of all emergency services to be activated at the provincial level, overseeing the implementation of the provincial civil protection plan, with particular attention to landslide management;

c) promotes and coordinates the adoption of necessary measures to ensure the intervention of state structures present in the provincial territory;

d) monitors the implementation of urgent services, including technical ones, at the provincial level.

For carrying out their duties, the prefect adopts all necessary measures within their competence to ensure initial relief, according to Article 9 of Legislative Decree No. 1/2018.

The competence of the prefect does not exclude the responsibility of the mayor. As clarified by case law (see Cass. No. 16761/2010), both the prefect and the mayor exercise concurrent competencies, even in cases where the mayor requests the intervention of the prefect, who acts through their own measures, in the presence of events that cannot be addressed with the means available to the municipality.

L'articolo What are the responsibilities of individuals, particularly mayors, in the event of landslides? proviene da Avacam.

• the protection and reclamation of the soil and subsoil;

• the hydrogeological reclamation of the territory, with particular attention to managing the risk of landslides and hydrogeological instability;

• the prevention of hydrogeological instability and landslides;

• the securing of risk-prone situations (pursuant to Article 53 of Legislative Decree 152/2006).

Knowledge, Planning, and Intervention Activities

To this end, all the aforementioned entities carry out every appropriate action:

• knowledge-related actions,

• planning actions,

• implementation of interventions, including for the management and prevention of hydrogeological instability and landslides, as provided in Article 53 of Legislative Decree 152/2006.

The knowledge-related activities specifically include actions such as:

• data collection,

• data processing,

• data archiving,

as well as the implementation of any other initiatives deemed necessary for the achievement of the above-mentioned objectives, in accordance with Article 54 of Legislative Decree 152/2006.

Specific Competences of the Regions

In particular, the regions annually prepare a report on land use and the hydrogeological conditions of their territory and take any other necessary initiatives in the fields of:

• land conservation,

• land defense,

• soil protection,

• subsoil protection, with a focus on the prevention and management of landslides and hydrogeological instability, in accordance with Article 61 of Legislative Decree 152/2006.

Participation of Local Entities

Municipalities, provinces, mountain communities, land reclamation and irrigation consortia, as well as other public entities and public law entities based in the hydrographic district, participate in the exercise of regional functions related to soil defense, as established by the regions, either individually or in agreement with each other.

L'articolo What are the responsibilities of public bodies under the Environmental Code in the event of landslides? proviene da Avacam.

Civil Protection Activities

According to Article 3 of Legislative Decree No. 1/2018, “civil protection activities” are those aimed at:

• forecasting risks;

• preventing and mitigating risks;

• managing emergencies;

• overcoming emergencies.

Forecasting

Forecasting includes all activities, carried out with the involvement of individuals with scientific, technical, and administrative expertise, aimed at identifying and studying, including dynamically, possible risk scenarios for the needs of alerting the National Service, when possible, and civil protection planning.

Prevention

Prevention activities are those aimed at avoiding or reducing the possibility of damage from catastrophic events, also based on knowledge acquired through forecasting activities, particularly concerning the risk of landslides and hydrogeological instability.

Emergency Management

Emergency management includes activities aimed at ensuring rescue and assistance to populations affected by catastrophic events and animals, as well as reducing the related impact, including through urgent and essential interventions and the use of simplified procedures, along with relevant information to the public.

That said, below are the main responsibilities of the competent public entities concerning landslides and hydrogeological instability, represented by municipalities, provinces, metropolitan cities, regions, and the State.

Municipalities

Municipalities, as parts of the National Civil Protection Service according to Article 3 of Legislative Decree No. 1/2018, must oversee civil protection planning activities and the direction of rescue operations, which constitute a fundamental function under Article 12 of Legislative Decree No. 1/2018.

For the execution of these activities, municipalities are required to perform various tasks, including, in particular:

• carrying out risk prevention activities, including those related to landslides and hydrogeological instability;

• preparing municipal civil protection plans;

• activating and directing urgent interventions necessary to address emergency situations when they occur (Article 12, Paragraph 3, Legislative Decree No. 1/2018).

Provinces (Wide Areas)

Wide-area provinces, as parts of the National Civil Protection Service under Article 3 of Legislative Decree No. 1/2018, perform various functions in this area. These include:

• implementing, at the provincial level, forecasting and prevention activities, including those related to the risk of landslides and hydrogeological instability, established in regional planning, adopting related administrative measures, and particularly tasks related to data collection and processing in the provincial territory;

• preparing provincial civil protection plans;

• overseeing the preparation of urgent services, including technical ones, by their civil protection structures to be activated in emergencies (Article 11, Paragraph 1, Legislative Decree No. 1/2018).

Metropolitan Cities

Metropolitan cities are parts of the National Civil Protection Service according to Article 3 of Legislative Decree No. 1/2018. Specific tasks are assigned to metropolitan mayors, as indicated in the following paragraph 3.

Regions and Autonomous Provinces

Regions and the Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano, as components of the National Civil Protection Service according to Articles 3 and 4 of Legislative Decree No. 1/2018, are responsible for implementing civil protection activities – forecasting, prevention, and mitigation of risks, emergency management, and overcoming them – according to their respective regulations and competencies (Article 4 of Legislative Decree No. 1/2018).

To this end, the regions regulate the organization of civil protection systems, ensuring the execution of related activities, and particularly the methods for forecasting and preventing risks, as well as the operation of the regional operations room, to ensure the continuous flow of information exchange with the Civil Protection Department, prefectures, delegated provinces, and municipalities.

Regions, the Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano, and the Civil Protection Department also ensure the functioning and operation of the alerting systems of the National Civil Protection Service, including those related to hydrogeological risks and landslides. This alerting system is structured in a state and regional system consisting of the tools, methods, and modalities established to develop and acquire, in real-time, knowledge, information, and assessments, where possible, even probabilistically, related to the advance warning, monitoring, and surveillance of events and the subsequent evolution of risk scenarios, in order to activate the National Civil Protection Service at various territorial levels (Article 17 of Legislative Decree No. 1/2018).

Conclusions

In conclusion, all the entities mentioned above are responsible for the prevention and management of landslides, although to varying degrees. Municipalities are the entities most exposed to liability, both with regard to prevention activities and the timely and appropriate management of landslides, as they are required to implement all necessary measures for this purpose.

L'articolo What are the responsibilities of authorities under the civil protection code in the event of landslides? proviene da Avacam.

After a brief introductory overview, the responsibilities of the various entities involved will be addressed, with particular attention to local authorities, as well as the individuals holding specific roles within them, as outlined in the relevant provisions of the Italian legal system. The main relevant sources are represented by:

• the Civil Protection Code (Legislative Decree No. 1 of January 2, 2018),

• the Consolidated Law on Local Authorities (Legislative Decree No. 267 of August 18, 2000), and

• the Environmental Code (Legislative Decree No. 152 of April 3, 2006).

For the prevention and management of landslides and hydrogeological instability, the responsibility of the public administration is distributed across multiple levels of government with competencies in land protection and management of hydrogeological risks. The subjects related to land governance and civil protection, in fact, fall under concurrent legislation between the State and regions (Article 117, Paragraph 3, Constitution). Within this framework, the following are involved:

• in addition to the State and regions,

• municipalities,

• provinces,

• metropolitan cities, and

• other entities (such as regional agencies and “park authorities,” which may be entrusted with the protection from hydrogeological instability and landslides).

In summary, the State establishes the principles to be followed, while the regions’ competencies primarily concern planning activities. Operational interventions, in terms of prevention and management, are entrusted to municipalities, which are therefore the entities most exposed to responsibility in case of landslides.

Within each entity, responsibility is attributed to the individual figures who are “directly responsible, under criminal, civil, and administrative law, for acts that violate rights” (Article 28 of the Constitution; Presidential Decree No. 3/1957). These can include:

• administrators (mainly mayors, but also councilors, regional presidents, prefects, etc.),

• managers,

• officials, and

• other public employees (such as members of the municipal civil protection operations center – COC or personnel from technical offices).

The individual responsibility of these individuals extends to the public administration they belong to, meaning that the individual responsible and the related entity are jointly liable toward the damaged parties.

Regarding the types of responsibility, generally speaking, the following points are highlighted:

• with regard to civil responsibility, public entities are liable under Article 2051 of the Civil Code (damage caused by things in their custody) or based on Article 2043 of the Civil Code (general clause on extracontractual liability). Both omissions, such as:

  • failure to maintain their assets (represented by roads, rivers, lakes, aqueducts, soil defense works, etc.),

  • lack of supervision (e.g., of sites at risk of landslides or hydrogeological instability),

  • failure to adopt prevention or emergency measures (e.g., timely monitoring of areas affected by a disaster) or anything else prescribed by law;
    as well as commission acts (such as performing an activity inconsistent with the level of risk presented by a given situation and thereby worsening it) are considered.
    More than one entity may be found jointly responsible (see, for example, Cass. 22702/2025, where a municipality, province, and region were found jointly responsible for damage caused by a landslide);

• with regard to criminal responsibility, the involved persons may, depending on the case, be held responsible for various crimes, such as:

  • involuntary disaster (Article 449 of the Penal Code),

  • involuntary manslaughter (Article 589 of the Penal Code),

  • the crime of flooding, landslides, and avalanches (Article 426 of the Penal Code),

  • environmental crimes introduced by Law No. 68/2015, and other crimes.
    More than one person may be involved in the commission of the same crime.

For completeness, it should be noted that in the cases at hand, the individuals within the public administration identified as responsible are also required to answer for the damage caused to their respective entity, due to their omissions or commission acts performed with intent or gross negligence (administrative-accountability liability).

For the identification of the entity and the individual responsible both civilly and criminally, account must be taken of the competences and responsibilities assigned by the relevant regulations.

L'articolo What responsibilities do public authorities have in the event of landslides? proviene da Avacam.

To mitigate these risks, Avacam has designed its devices with self-diagnostic functions that send automatic alerts if the device detects any anomalies in its operation.

Furthermore, for remote or hard-to-reach areas where connectivity may be limited, the devices are equipped with long-distance communication systems, such as 4G or satellite connections, which ensure continuous data transmission even in unstable network conditions.

Finally, the use of AI technology reduces the risk of false alarms by analysing data in real time and distinguishing between harmless ground movements and signs of potential landslides.

This approach ensures that emergency responses are always based on accurate and timely data, reducing the risk of incorrect decisions or delays in intervention.

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Avacam devices use secure cloud solutions for data storage, such as AWS and Azure, which are certified to ISO 27001 standards, ensuring compliance with best practices for information protection.

Data access is managed through strong authentication, including multi-factor authentication (MFA) systems, to ensure that only authorised users can view the information collected.

In addition, data is encrypted both in transit and in storage, ensuring that it cannot be intercepted or tampered with during transfer.

Civil protection managers and authorised operators can access data in real time via a secure platform, continuously monitoring the status of the terrain. Access permissions can be customised according to roles, allowing each user to view only the information relevant to their function.

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The devices are constructed from weather-resistant materials, with IP67 protection making them waterproof and dustproof, ensuring operation even in humid or dusty environments.

In addition, the devices are designed to operate at extremely low or high temperatures, from -20°C to +70°C, making them ideal for monitoring remote areas where climatic conditions can be particularly severe.

Each device is equipped with a dual heating system for cold environments, which ensures continuous operation even in freezing conditions, avoiding the risk of failure due to extreme cold.

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With real-time monitoring, data on ground movements and signs of instability are collected and analyzed immediately, enabling local authorities to take timely preventive measures.

If abnormal activity is detected, such as ground movements or soil saturation that could indicate an imminent landslide, civil protection officials can issue evacuation warnings, restrict access to areas at risk, and mobilize rescue services.

The effectiveness of the monitoring system, combined with the support of AI technologies, drastically reduces response time and improves public safety.

In addition, the ability to store and consult historical data allows for analysis of past landslides and improved planning for future emergencies. This flow of information is essential for optimizing resource distribution and improving crisis management.

L'articolo How can landslide monitoring help in emergency management? proviene da Avacam.

Each device is equipped with sensors that detect key variables such as ground inclination, temperature, and soil moisture.

This data is sent in real time to secure cloud platforms, where it is processed to identify any abnormal movements or variations that could signal an impending landslide.

Artificial intelligence plays a crucial role in analyzing this data, using predictive algorithms to detect patterns that precede a disaster.

These models are trained on historical data, which allows the system’s ability to identify risk signals to be continuously refined. The results of the analysis are then sent to operators, who receive timely alerts, enabling them to make quick and informed decisions.

L'articolo How is the data collected by the landslide monitoring system analyzed? proviene da Avacam.

The ability to monitor areas at risk in real time allows signs of instability to be detected before a critical event occurs, enabling authorities to intervene promptly to reduce damage.

Continuous monitoring technologies reduce the risk of accidents, preventing human and material losses caused by sudden landslides. In addition, continuous monitoring allows for more efficient resource management during civil protection operations.

Interventions can be planned based on information collected in real time, optimizing available resources and reducing the cost of emergency interventions.

Furthermore, Avacam‘s continuous monitoring provides a historical database that can be used to analyze trends and improve prevention practices. The data collected can also be used for future planning and to improve land management policies.

L'articolo What are the advantages of continuous landslide monitoring? proviene da Avacam.