COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 2024 Rule of Law Report Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 2024 Rule of Law Report The rule of law situation in the European Union
Date: 2024-07-24
Institutions: European Commission, Secretariat-General
Subjects: Italy, administrative transparency, corruption, democracy, freedom of the press, independence of the judiciary, infringement of EU law, pluralism in the media, rule of law, whistleblowing

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 24.7.2024  SWD(2024) 812 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 2024 Rule of Law Report          Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 2024 Rule of Law Report                      The rule of law situation in the European Union {COM(2024) 800 final} - {SWD(2024) 801 final} - {SWD(2024) 802 final} - {SWD(2024) 803 final} - {SWD(2024) 804 final} - {SWD(2024) 805 final} - {SWD(2024) 806 final} - {SWD(2024) 807 final} - {SWD(2024) 808 final} - {SWD(2024) 809 final} - {SWD(2024) 810 final} - {SWD(2024) 811 final} - {SWD(2024) 813 final} - {SWD(2024) 814 final} - {SWD(2024) 815 final} - {SWD(2024) 816 final} - {SWD(2024) 817 final} - {SWD(2024) 818 final} - {SWD(2024) 819 final} - {SWD(2024) 820 final} - {SWD(2024) 821 final} - {SWD(2024) 822 final} - {SWD(2024) 823 final} - {SWD(2024) 824 final} - {SWD(2024) 825 final} - {SWD(2024) 826 final} - {SWD(2024) 827 final} - {SWD(2024) 828 final} - {SWD(2024) 829 final} - {SWD(2024) 830 final} - {SWD(2024) 831 final}  
 
 
ABSTRACT 

A comprehensive reform of the justice system is in now place and the Government adopted 
the  implementing  legislation  necessary  for  it  to  take  full  effect.  The  Government  has 
submitted to Parliament a draft constitutional reform concerning the separation of careers of 
judges  and  prosecutors  and  the  establishment  of  a  High  Disciplinary  Court  in  charge  of 
disciplinary  proceedings  against  ordinary  magistrates.  The  Department  of  Tax  Justice  has 
been established with the objective of increasing the level of independence of tax courts from 
the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Civil justice is now fully digitalised and tax justice is 
following suit. Steps have also been taken to improve the digitalisation of criminal courts and 
prosecutors’  offices,  while  challenges  in  implementation  remain.  The  length  of  judicial 
proceedings  is  continuing  its  positive  trend  but  remains  a  serious  challenge.  Significant 
improvements have been made in the recruitment of new magistrates and administrative staff 
and in reducing the backlog of pending cases. 

The National Anti-Corruption Plan was updated to strengthen the section on public contracts, 
while  guidelines  on  revolving  doors  are  being  developed.  The  Parliament  approved  a  draft 
law abrogating the offence of abuse of public office and limiting the scope of the offence of 
trading in influence. The Government adopted a Law Decree that introduces a new offence of 
embezzlement covering cases of improper allocation of money or movable property by public 
officials.  A  draft  law  proposing  changes  to  the  statute  of  limitations  is  under  discussion  in 
Parliament. Comprehensive legislation on conflicts of interest, and on lobbying rules and the 
establishment  of  a  legislative  footprint  is  still  pending,  and  so  are  changes  to  the  rules  on 
political  party  and  campaign  financing.  Corruption  risks  in  public  procurement  remain, 
although the digitalisation of public contracts should improve transparency and investments 
in IT tools to help law enforcement authorities have continued. 

Italy  has  a  robust  legislative  framework  to  regulate  the  media  sector  which  ensures  the 
effective functioning of an independent and well-resourced media regulator. There are rules 
in  place  aimed  at  ensuring  that  public  service  media  provide  independent  and  pluralistic 
information, even though stakeholders raise persisting challenges related to the effectiveness 
of its governance and funding system. The Government has taken further measures in view of 
streamlining financial support to the media sector, although stakeholders stressed the need for 
more  effective  actions.  Legislative  initiatives  regulating  the  possibility  for  journalists  and 
newspapers to have access to, and publish, certain judicial documents and content of wiretaps 
were met with criticism by media stakeholders. In spite of targeted rules on the protection of 
journalists against threats, the situation regarding their safety and working conditions as well 
as the increasing prevalence of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) cases 
remain an issue. There have been no major developments on the proposal to reform the press 
defamation regime, which also raises concerns.  

The Government has submitted to Parliament a draft constitutional reform with the objective 
of ensuring greater stability of government. There has been no further progress made toward 
the  establishment  of  a  National  Human  Rights  Institution.  Excessive  use  of  emergency 
decrees by the Government has been reported as a source of concern. Challenges remain as 
regards the civic space, also in light of reported  verbal attacks on organisations involved in 
humanitarian activities and of reported violence against demonstrators. 

1 

 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS 

Overall, concerning the recommendations in the 2023 Rule of Law Report, Italy has made: 

•  Some  further  progress  on  continuing  the  efforts  to  further  improve  the  level  of 

digitalisation for criminal courts and prosecutors’ offices. 

•  Some  further  progress  on  adopting  comprehensive  conflicts  of  interest  rules  and  no 
further  progress  on  adopting  lobbying  regulation  to  establish  an  operational  lobbying 
register, including a legislative footprint. 

•  No  further  progress  on  effectively  and  swiftly  addressing  the  practice  of  channeling 
donations  through  political  foundations  and  associations  and  introducing  a  single 
electronic register for party and campaign finance information. 

•  No  further  progress  on  continuing  the  legislative  process  to  reform  and  introduce 
safeguards  for  the  regime  on  defamation,  the  protection  of  professional  secrecy  and 
journalistic  sources,  taking  into  account  the  European  standards  on  the  protection  of 
journalists. 

•  No further progress on continuing efforts to establish a National Human Rights Institution 

taking into account the UN Paris Principles. 

On this basis, and considering other developments that took place in the period of reference, 
and  in  addition  to  recalling  the  relevant  commitments  made  under  the  Recovery  and 
Resilience Plan, it is recommended to Italy to: 

•  Continue  efforts  to  further  improve  the  level  of  digitalisation  for  criminal  courts  and 

prosecutors’ offices.  

•  Adopt the pending legislative proposal on conflicts of interest and adopt comprehensive 
rules  on  lobbying  to  establish  an  operational  lobbying  register,  including  a  legislative 
footprint. 

•  Effectively  and  swiftly  address  the  practice  of  channelling  donations  through  political 
foundations  and  associations  and  introduce  single  electronic  register  for  party  and 
campaign finance information. 

•  Continue  the  legislative  process  on  the  draft  reform  on  defamation,  the  protection  of 
professional secrecy and journalistic sources while avoiding any risk of negative impacts 
on press freedom and ensure it takes into account European standards on the protection of 
journalists. 

•  Ensure that rules or mechanisms are in place to provide funding for public service media 
that  is  appropriate  for  the  realisation  of  its  public  service  remit  and  to  guarantee  its 
independence. 

•  Step up efforts  to  establish a  National  Human Rights  Institution  taking into  account  the 

UN Paris Principles. 

• 

2 

 
 
 
I. 

JUSTICE SYSTEM  

The structure of the justice system is set out in the Constitution of Italy, which enshrines its 
independence and autonomy. Ordinary courts have jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters 
and are organised in three instances. The first instance is composed of justices of the peace, 
tribunals,  and  juvenile  courts.  The  second  and  third  instances  are  made  up  of  the  courts  of 
appeal1 and the High Court of Cassation, respectively. Administrative justice is organised in 
first and second instance courts2. Jurisdiction in accounting matters is exercised by the Court 
of Auditors (with Regional and Central Chambers). The responsible courts for tax matters are 
the newly established tax courts at first and second instance, and, for both of them, the High 
Court of Cassation at the highest level. The structure of the prosecution service mirrors that 
of  the  courts.  Italy  participates  in  the  European  Public  Prosecutor’s  Office  (EPPO). 
According to  the principle of unity of the judiciary, ordinary judges and  public prosecutors 
are all magistrates, have a common career structure, and are governed by the High Council 
for  the  Judiciary3.  Administrative,  accounting  and  tax  magistrates  have  their  own  self-
government  bodies4.  As  a  rule,  the  judiciary  is  accessed  through  a  public  competition5. 
Ordinary magistrates  are appointed by decree of  the Ministry of Justice, administrative and 
accounting magistrates by decree of the President of the Republic, tax magistrates by decree 
of the Ministry of Economy and Finance6. The Constitutional Court has exclusive jurisdiction 
over  disputes  regarding  the  constitutionality  of  laws7.  The  National  Bar  Council  is  an 
independent and self-governing body established by law. 

Independence  

The  level  of  perceived  judicial  independence  in  Italy  continues  to  be  low  among  the 
general  public  and  is  now  average  among  companies.  Overall,  36%  of  the  general 
population and 42% of companies perceive the level of independence of courts and judges to 
be ‘fairly or very good’ in 20248. This figure has decreased in comparison with 2023 (39%) 

1   With the exception of the judgments of the justices of the peace, which are appealed before the tribunals.  
2   Regional Administrative Tribunals (Tribunali amministrativi regionali) are courts of first instance, whereas 
Council  of  State  (Consiglio  di  Stato)  is  the  administrative  court  of  second  instance  (the  Council  of 
Administrative  Justice  for  the  Sicilian  Region  –  Consiglio  di  Giustizia  Amministrativa  per  la  Regione 
siciliana – is the administrative court of second instance only for the island of Sicily).  

3   Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura. 
4   Respectively,  Council  of Administrative  Justice  (Consiglio  di  Presidenza  della  Giustizia  Amministrativa), 
Council of the Court of Auditors (Consiglio di Presidenza della Corte dei Conti) and Council for Tax Justice 
(Consiglio di Presidenza della Giustizia Tributaria). 

5   Constitution  of  Italy,  art.  106(1).  However,  exceptions  to  this  general  rule  are  in  place,  such  as  the 
appointment  of  honorary  magistrates  and  the  power  of  the  government  to  appoint  particularly  deserving 
people as magistrates in certain courts (e.g. at the Courts of Auditors, at the Council of State). 

6   For the appointment of administrative magistrates, the President of the Republic acts  upon proposal of the 
Prime  Minister.  For  the  appointment  of  accounting  magistrates,  the  President  of  the  Republic  acts  upon 
proposal of the Prime Minister and deliberation of the Council of the Court of Auditors. For the appointment 
of  tax  magistrates,  the  Ministry  of  Economy  and  Finance  acts  upon  deliberation  of  the  Council  for  Tax 
Justice. Written contribution from the Italian Government in the context of the country visit to Italy. 

7   Pursuant to art. 135 of the Constitution of Italy, the Constitutional  Court is composed of 15 judges who are 
appointed for a nine-year term of office. Five are appointed by the President of the Republic, five are elected 
by Parliament and five are elected by supreme courts (three by the High Court of Cassation, one by the Court 
of Auditors, and one by the Council of State).  

8   Figures 51 and 53, 2024 EU Justice Scoreboard, and Figures 50 and 52, 2022 EU Justice Scoreboard. The 
level  of  perceived  judicial  independence  is  categorised  as  follows:  very  low  (below  30%  of  respondents 

3 

 
 
 
although  it  remains  higher  in  comparison  with  2020  (31%).  The  perceived  judicial 
independence among companies has increased in comparison with 2023 (39%), as well as in 
comparison with 2020 (36%)9. 

The Government adopted the implementing legislation necessary for the reform of the 
justice system to take full effect. As mentioned in the 2022 and 2023 Rule of Law Report10, 
in June 2022, a comprehensive reform of the judicial system, including the High Council for 
the  Judiciary,  was  adopted11.  The  reform  consisted  of  directly  applicable  provisions12  and 
others requiring implementing legislation. On 28 March 2024, the Government approved the 
implementing  legislation13  relating,  among  others,  to  i)  access  to  the  judiciary,  which 
introduces  a  psycho-aptitude  interview  as  part  of  the  competition  tests14;  ii)  appraisal  of 
magistrates’  performance,  with  the  establishment  of  a  magistrate’s  professional  file15;  iii) 
criteria  for  the  appointment  of  the  members  of  the  High  Court  of  Cassation  and  of  the 
General  Prosecutor’s  Office  at  the  High  Court  of  Cassation16,  and  iv),  assignment  of 

perceive judicial independence as fairly good and very good); low (between 30-39%), average (between 40-
59%), high (between 60-75%), very high (above 75%). 

9   54% of the companies in Italy are either fairly or very confident that their investments are protected by the 
law  and  courts  in  the  Member  State.  24%  of  the  surveyed  companies  see  the  quality,  efficiency  or 
independence of justice as one of the main reasons for concern about investment protection in the country. 
Figure 56, 2024 EU Justice Scoreboard. 

10   See 2022 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, pp. 3-6; 2023 Rule of 

Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, pp. 3-4.  

11   See Law  which empowers the Government to reform the  judicial system and to adapt the military judicial 
system,  providing  also  for  rules  on  legal,  organisational  and  disciplinary  matters,  on  eligibility  and 
redeployment of magistrates and on establishment and functioning of the High Council for the Judiciary, No. 
71 of 17 June 2022 (‘Law 71/2022’). 

12   See 2023 Rule of Law  Report,  Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 3, footnote 4. The 
provisions  with  direct  applicability  included:  reform  of  the  electoral  system  of  the  High  Council  for  the 
Judiciary,  which  is  supposed  to  make  it  more  independent  from  the  magistrates’  associations;  reform  of 
functioning of the High Council for the Judiciary, which is supposed to make it more efficient; reform of the 
selection of the heads of judicial offices; stricter rules on “revolving doors” for the judiciary. On the impact 
of the reform on the independence of judges and the functioning of the  High Council for the Judiciary, see 
2022 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, pp. 5-7, which explores the 
issues  raised  by  the  High  Council  for  the  Judiciary  in  its  opinion  10/PA/2022  of  23  March  2022. 
Stakeholders  are  of  the  view  that  it  is  too  early  to  draw  conclusions  on  the  impact  of  the  reform  on  the 
functioning of the High Council for the Judiciary (information received in the context of the country visit to 
Italy from National Association of Magistrates and Italian Association of Constitutionalists). 

13   See  Legislative  Decree  implementing  Law  71/2022,  No.  44  of  28  March  2024  (‘LD  44/2024’),  and 
Legislative  Decree  containing  rules  on  deployment  of  ordinary,  administrative  and  accounting  magistrates 
outside the judiciary, in implementation of Article 1(1) of Law No. 71 of 17 June 2022, No. 45 of 28 March 
2024.  

14   LD 44/2024, Article 5(1)(b)(4), amending Article 1(4) of Legislative Decree laying down rules on access to 
the judiciary and on the economic progression and functions of magistrates, No. 160 of 5 April 2006 (‘LD 
160/2006’).  Further  rules  intervene  on  the  functioning  of  the  School  for  the  Judiciary  (Scuola  Superiore 
della Magistratura), on the preparatory courses for the competitions for magistrate, on the regulation of the 
competition tests and on access to the judicial training (tirocinio formativo). 

15   Fascicolo  personale  del  magistrato.  See  LD  44/2024,  Article  5(4)(a),  which  adds  Article  10-bis  to  LD 
160/2006.  The  file  comprises,  among  others,  decisions  establishing  tasks  and  activities  of  the  magistrate, 
statistical data on the activity of the magistrate, acts and judgments issued by the magistrate (including their 
outcome  in  the  following  instances),  acts  relating  to  disciplinary  proceedings  against  the  magistrate,  High 
Council for the Judiciary’s previous decisions on the magistrate’ performance. 

16   LD 44/2024, Article 5(5)(a)(1), which amends Article 12 of LD 160/2006. Moreover, LD 44/2024, Article 
5(5)(b), adds Article 12-bis to LD 160/2006, to regulate the procedure for the appointment of the members of 
the High Court of Cassation and of the General Prosecutor’s Office at the High Court of Cassation. 

4 

 
 
managerial  and  semi-managerial  functions  within  judicial  offices,  with  the  aim  to  increase 
transparency  and  appreciation  of  merit  in  their  assignment17.  The  National  Association  of 
Magistrates has expressed its concerns on aspects of the implementing legislation, including 
the psycho-aptitude interview18 and the regulation of the appraisal procedure of magistrates19. 
The impact of the reform on the justice system will need to be assessed over time. 

A  draft  constitutional  reform  separating  careers  of  judges  and  prosecutors  and 
establishing  two  Councils  has  been  presented.  On  29  May  202420,  the  Government 
approved a draft constitutional reform of justice, aimed at introducing a separation of careers 
of  judges  and  prosecutors21  and  at  establishing  two  separate  High  Councils,  one  for  judges 
and one for prosecutors22. In respect of the current High Council for the Judiciary, the draft 
reform  confirms  the  composition  of  the  Councils  in  terms  of  ratio  of  magistrates  to  ‘lay’ 
members23,  while  proposing  to  change  the  nomination  process  of  their  members.  In  this 
regard,  it  provides  for  a  shift  from  the  current  elective  system  to  a  system  of  nomination 
exclusively  by  lot:  the  magistrates  would  be  drawn  from  among  all  ordinary  judges  and 
prosecutors  respectively,  and  the  lay  members  would  be  drawn  from  a  list  selected  by 
Parliament24. The draft reform leaves the regulation of the nomination procedures to ordinary 
legislation25, which is still to be published. The separation of careers triggered a discussion as 

17   LD 44/Article 5(7), which adds Articles 46-bis to 46-decies to LD 160/2006. 
18   The National Association of Magistrates is of the opinion that such tests risk conveying a message that could 
undermine  public  confidence  in  judiciary,  suggesting  the  magistrates  could  be  lack  of  ‘mental  balance’ 
(press  release  of 3  March  2024,  ‘The ANM  on  psyco-aptitude  tests  for  access  to  the  judiciary’). A  psyco-
aptitude  interview  is  provided  for  access  to  a  number  of  public  professional  categories  (e.g.  police  force 
personnel),  because  of  the  power  that  members  of  those  categories  have  to  affect  the  personal  and  legal 
sphere  of  citizens.  Written  contribution  from  the  Italian  Government.  The  High  Council  for  the  Judiciary 
informed that it has not been consulted on the introduction of the psyco-aptitude interviews (whereas it has 
expressed an opinion on the other aspects of the reform). 

19   In particular,  in the context of the country visit to Italy, the National Association of Magistrates expressed 
concerns with regard to the interpretation of the notion of ‘serious anomalies’, which could lead to a negative 
appraisal of the magistrate also in case of one judgment overturned at subsequent instances, with the effect 
of  stimulating  magistrates  to  align  to  established  case-law.  See  also  Opinion  of  the  High  Council  for  the 
Judiciary of 13 March 2024. 

20   Several draft laws aiming at separating the careers of judges and prosecutors were already pending at both 
houses  of  Parliament  (draft  constitutional  laws  A.C.  23,  434,  806  and  824  presented  at  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  and A.S. 504 presented at the Senate  of the Republic, as defined in Annex I).  See 2023 Rule of 
Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, pp. 5-6.  

21   See new artt. 102(1) and 104(1) of the Constitution of Italy, as Articles 2-3 of the draft reform, respectively, 

intend to amend them.  

22   As explained in the introductory paragraph, ordinary judges and public prosecutors currently have a common 

career structure and are governed by the High Council for the Judiciary. 

23   In particular, two thirds would be magistrates (i.e. judges for the High Council for judges and prosecutors for 
the  High  Council  for  prosecutors)  and  one  third  would  be  “lay”  members  (i.e.  full  professors  in  legal 
subjects  and  lawyers  with  at  least  fifteen  years  of  practice).  The  President  of  the  Republic  would  be 
confirmed as chair of both Councils, whereas the first President at the High Court of Cassation would be an 
ex officio member of the High Council for judges, and the Prosecutor General at the High Court of Cassation 
would  be  an  ex  officio  member  of  the  High  Council  for  prosecutors.  See  new  Article  104(3)  of  the 
Constitution of Italy, as Article 3 of the draft reform intends to amend it. As of today, both the First President 
and  the  Prosecutor  General  at  the  High  Court  of  Cassation  are  members  ex  officio  of  the  (single)  High 
Council for the Judiciary. 

24   See new Article 104(4) of the Constitution of Italy, as Article 3 of the draft reform intends to amend it.  
25   Ibidem.  

5 

 
 
to whether the reform might affect the independence of prosecutors26. As already stated in the 
2023 Rule of Law Report27, while there is no single model in the EU for the institutional set-
up of the prosecution service, institutional safeguards are required to ensure that prosecutors 
are  able  to  fulfil  their  professional  duties  and  responsibilities  under  adequate  legal  and 
organisational conditions and without interference28 or undue political influence29. The Italian 
authorities pointed out  that  the prosecutor’s independence  would  not  derive from  abstractly 
belonging to the same career as judges, but from the procedural rules governing his function 
and role. These rules would remain unchanged and so the prosecutor's culture of jurisdiction. 
However, the National Association of Magistrates expressed concerns on the establishment of 
two  separate  High  Councils  considering  that  this  would  weaken  their  authority  as  self-
governing  bodies  of  the  judiciary  (compared  with  the  current  single  High  Council  for  the 
Judiciary)30  and  that  the  new  nomination  procedure  would  undermine  the  representation  of 
magistrates in the High Councils31. According to  European standards, not  less than half the 
members  of  Councils  for  the  judiciary  should  be  judges  chosen  by  their  peers32.  While  the 
aim pursued through the nomination procedure by lot is to ensure objectivity in the selection 
of  the  judicial  members  of  the  High  Councils,  the  proposed  procedure  does  not  seem  to 
guarantee that such members are elected by their peers and, therefore, raises certain questions 
in that regard33. 

The draft constitutional reform envisages the creation of a High Disciplinary Court to 
which the disciplinary powers over ordinary magistrates would be transferred from the 
High  Council  for  the  Judiciary.  The  High  Disciplinary  Court  would  be  composed  of  15 
members: six “lay” members34 and nine ordinary magistrates35. Appeals against first instance 
judgments  delivered  by  the  High  Disciplinary  Court  would  be  brought  before  a  different 

26   Some  stakeholders  expressed  concerns  that  a  separation  could  lead  to  prosecutors  becoming  increasingly 
distant from the culture of jurisdiction, possibly making them more prone to potential political influences. 
Information  received  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to Italy  from  National Association  of  Magistrates, 
National  Anti-mafia  and  Anti-terrorism  Directorate,  Italian  Association  of  Constitutionalists,  Prosecution 
Service  at  the  High  Court  of  Cassation.  See  also  the  Final  Motion  of  the  36th  National  Congress  of  the 
National  Association  of  Magistrates  and  2023  Rule  of  Law  Report,  Country  Chapter  on  the  rule  of  law 
situation  in  Italy,  p.  6.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy,  the  National  Bar 
Association welcomed the separation of careers as, in its view, the fact that judges and prosecutors are part 
of the same judicial order would undermine their mutual independence.  

27   See, in particular, 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 7. 
28   2022 Rule of Law Report, The rule of law situation in the European Union, p. 7. 
29   Venice Commission’s Rule of Law Checklist, pp. 39-41. 
30   Final Motion of the 36th National Congress of the National Association of Magistrates. National Association 

of Magistrates, Press release of 15 June 2024. 

31   Avvenire  (2024),  Vice-President  of  the  National  Association  of  Magistrates,  ‘We  are  not  enemies  of  the 
Government,  but  Nordio’s  reform  is  risky’;  Corriere  della  Sera  (2024),  Justice  Reform,  Casciaro  (ANM), 
‘From Nordio unjust accusations, he should take a tour of the judicial offices’. 

32   Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)12 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, para. 27. 
33   It is for example not yet clear why all ordinary magistrates (currently around 10 000) would be eligible to be 
drawn by lot as judicial members of the High Councils, whereas the lot of lay members is “tempered” by the 
presence of a list (the extent of which is not defined in the draft reform) of eligible candidates selected by 
Parliament.  It  is  also  unclear  why  the  draft  reform  imposes  the  separation  of  careers  only  for  ordinary 
magistrates (and not, for example, judges and prosecutors of the Courts of Auditors). 

34   Three  of  which  would  be  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  Republic  from  a  list  of  professors  in  legal 
subjects and lawyers with at least twenty years of experience, and three drawn by lot from a list – selected by 
the Parliament – of persons meeting the same requirements. 

35   Six  judges  and  three  prosecutors  drawn  by  lot  from  among  those  having  at  least  twenty  years  of  judicial 

service and who are or have been judges or prosecutors at the High Court of Cassation. 

6 

 
 
panel  of the same High Court36, rather than the High Court of Cassation as  is  currently the 
case. The regulation of the procedures before the High Disciplinary Court are left to ordinary 
legislation37,  which  is  still  to  be  published.  The  National  Association  of  Magistrates  has 
expressed  the  view  that  the  reform  could  undermine  the  independence  of  the  judiciary, 
considering that the Court would be a judge of both first and second instance, and an appeal 
before the High Court of Cassation would no longer be possible38.  

The Parliament is discussing the priority criteria in criminal prosecution. The reform of 
the  judicial  system  mandates  the  Parliament  to  periodically  establish  framework  priority 
criteria in criminal prosecution to ensure effectiveness and uniformity in prosecution. Within 
the framework established by Parliament, it is then up to each prosecution office to identify 
specific priority criteria and to select the offences that will be prioritised over others, taking 
into  account  the  number  of  cases  to  be  dealt  with  and  available  resources39.  The  Justice 
Committee of the Senate of the Republic is  discussing a draft law to  define the framework 
priority criteria40. A number of stakeholders consider that priority criteria are needed to help 
prosecutors  cope  with  their  heavy  workload41.  The  National  Association  of  Magistrates 
underlined that, to preserve the independence of prosecutors, a fair balance must be achieved: 
if the framework priority criteria set by Parliament were too stringent, there would be a risk 
of intrusion into the autonomy of prosecutor’s offices, but  at the same time they would not 
fulfil their objective if they were too general42. 

The  Department  of  Tax  Justice  has  been  established  with  a  view  to  increasing  the 
independence  of  the  newly  established  tax  courts  from  the  Ministry  of  Economy  and 
Finance. As mentioned in the 2023 Rule of Law Report43, commitments under the Recovery 
and  Resilience  Plan  (RRP)  to  adopt  a  comprehensive  reform  of  tax  courts  resulted  in  the 
establishment  of  new  first  and  second  instance  tax  courts,  and  in  the  introduction  of  an 
autonomous  and  professional  role  of  tax  judges44,  to  improve  the  quality  of  the  tax 
jurisdiction45.  As  indicated  in  the  2023  Rule  of  Law  Report46,  the  appointment47,  the 

36   See new Article 105 of the Constitution of Italy, as Article 4 of the draft reform intends to amend it.  
37   Neither the text nor the underlying principles of this ordinary legislation have been published. 
38   La  Notizia  (2024),  ‘A  useless  and  dangerous  reform  to  weaken  the  judiciary’:  ANM  Vice-President 

Maddalena speaks. 

39   See Law 71/2022, Article 13(1), which replaced Article 1(6) and (7) of the LD 160/2006. 
40   Draft law A.S n. 933, Implementing provisions of Law No 134 of 27 September 2021 on priority criteria for 

prosecution. 

41   High Council for the Judiciary’s opinion 10/PA/2022 of 23 March 2022, pp. 102-107. Information received 
in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy  from  National  Anti-mafia  and  Anti-terrorism  Directorate  and 
Prosecution Service at the High Court of Cassation. 

42   Information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from National Association of Magistrates. 
43   2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, pp. 4-5.  
44   Before the reform, tax judges were honorary judges, namely part-time judges, appointed on the basis of their 

qualifications. 

45   Written contribution from Ministry of Justice in coordination with Ministry of Economy and Finance in the 

context of the country visit to Italy, p. 11. 

46   2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, pp. 4-5. 
47   The tax judges are selected on the basis of a competition managed by the Board for the Public Competition 
for Tax Judges, whose members are appointed by the Council for Tax Justice. The selected candidates are 
then  appointed  by  a  decree  of  the  Ministry  of  Economy  and  Finance  on  a  binding  proposal  by  the  same 
Council. 

7 

 
 
appraisal48  and  the  disciplinary49  proceedings  for  tax  judges  seem  to  offer  significant 
safeguards for their judicial independence. The administrative staff that work for the Council 
for Tax Justice remain civil servants of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), even 
though  the  latter  does  not  have  a  decision-making  power  over  the  organisation  and 
management of the staff assigned to the Council for Tax Justice50. To address concerns about 
the  independence  of  tax  courts  from  the  MEF,  the  Department  of  Tax  Justice  has  been 
established as an autonomous body within the MEF51, distinct from the Finance Department 
of  the  MEF52.  The  Department  of  Tax  Justice  carries  out,  among  others,  the  planning  and 
administrative management  of tax judicial activity;  develops  and manages the digitalisation 
of tax justice; manages the procedures for the acquisition of goods and services connected to 
the  functioning  of  the  tax  courts,  thereby  supporting  the  jurisdictional  function  of  the  tax 
courts. Despite this improvement, concerns have been reiterated on the independence of  the 
tax courts from MEF due to the fact that MEF, through its tax agencies53, can be a party in 
cases before tax courts54. 

Over  the  past  year,  stakeholders,  including  the  National  Association  of  Magistrates, 
raised  concerns  over public statements critical  of the judiciary made by politicians. In 
October 2023, politicians publicly expressed strong criticism of a judge for a decision on the 
release  of  a  migrant  placed  in  detention55.  The  National  Association  of  Magistrates  raised 
concerns  about  such  public  statements56,  and  the  High  Council  for  the  Judiciary  opened  a 
case to protect the independence of the judge concerned57. Stakeholders underlined that such 
public  statements58  could  affect  the  perception  of  independence  of  the  judiciary,  also 

48   The appraisal of the judges, including career progression, is an exclusive competence of the Council for Tax 

Justice, with the Ministry of Economy and Finance only having the power to implement its decision. 

49   Disciplinary  proceedings  can  be  initiated  by  the  Prime  Minister  or  by  the  President  of  the  Tax  Court  of 
Second Instance in the region where the tax judge is appointed and are addressed to the disciplinary office of 
the  Council  for Tax  Justice,  which  can  impose  a  disciplinary  sanction  for  specific  violations  identified  by 
law. 

50   See written contribution from Ministry of Justice in coordination with Ministry of Economy and Finance in 

the context of the country visit to Italy, pp. 12-13. 

51   Law  Decree  containing  urgent  provisions  for  strengthening  the  administrative  capacity  of  public 
administrations, No. 44 of 22 April 2023, converted, with amendments, into Law No. 74 of 21 June 2023. 
52   The  Finance  Department  established  within  the  MEF  is  in  charge  of  the  overall  management  of  the  tax 

system, planning of its development and strategy, direction and control of the tax agencies.  

53   Revenue  Agency  (Agenzia  delle  Entrate),  Public  Property  Agency  (Agenzia  del  Demanio),  Customs  and 
Monopolies Agency (Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli), Revenue Agency – Collection (Agenzia delle 
Entrate – Riscossione). 

54   Information  received  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to Italy  from  National Association  of  Magistrates, 
according to which, to ensure full independence of tax courts, it would have been better to create specialised 
tax sections within the civil Tribunals. See also written contribution from the High Council for the Judiciary 
in the context of the country visit to Italy, pp. 5-6. 

55   On  2  October  2023,  a  judge of  the Tribunal  of  Catania  ordered  the  release  of  a  migrant  detained  in  a  so-
called pre-removal detention center (Centro di Permanenza per il Rimpatrio) on the ground that the Italian 
legislation allowing the detention breached Constitution of Italy, international conventions and EU law.  

56   National Association of Magistrates 2023, Unitary document of 26 November 2023. 
57   High Council for the Judiciary, Press release of 26 October 2023, First Commission opens a case to protect 

judge Apostolico. 

58   In November 2023, a minister referred to a risk of political use of justice by certain judges; Corriere della 

Sera (2023), Crosetto: ‘Groups of magistrates against the government’. 

8 

 
 
considering that they come from representatives of the Government59. The 2023 Rule of Law 
Report noted that concerns were raised by stakeholders in relation to disciplinary proceedings 
initiated by the Minister of Justice against a panel of judges of the Court of Appeal of Milan 
based  on  the  content  of  their  decision60.  In  May  2024,  the  General  Prosecutor  at  the  High 
Court of Cassation submitted a request to dismiss the case to the disciplinary section of the 
High  Council  for  the  Judiciary.  In  June  2024,  the  Minister  of  Justice  ordered  compulsory 
indictment of the judges before the High Council for the Judiciary61, which was criticised by 
the National Association of Magistrates  as impacting the exercise of the judicial function62. 
Stakeholders  have  also  reported  acts  of  intimidation  against  magistrates,  especially  by 
organised  crime  groups63,  for  which  police  protection  measures  are  being  taken  by  the 
Government. 

Quality  

Significant  improvements  were  made  in  the  recruitment  of  new  magistrates  and 
administrative  staff.  From  July  2023  to  April  2024,  209  new  magistrates  took  office  in 
ordinary  courts64.  Three  separate  procedures  for  the  overall  recruitment  of  912  ordinary 
judges  have  progressed  over  the  last  year  and  are  expected  to  be  completed  by  202465.  An 
additional  competition  for  400  posts  of  ordinary  judges  was  launched  on  9  October  202366 
and should be completed by June 202567. Moreover, from July 2023 to April 2024, a total of 
2 305 administrative staff members have been recruited, with additional 4 791 units planned 
to be recruited by the end of 202468. As for administrative courts, following the completion of 
the relevant competitions, 64 magistrates at the administrative court of first instance (TAR)69 
and  5  at  the  Council  of  State  took  office  in  2023;  two  other  procedures  are  ongoing  and 
should be completed by 2024: they concern the recruitment of 53 magistrates at the TAR and 

59   Contribution  from  Civil  Liberties  Union  for  Europe  for  the  2024  Rule  of  Law  Report,  p.  4.  Information 
received in the context of the country visit to Italy from CILD. See also the Final Motion of the 36th National 
Congress of the National Association of Magistrates. 

60   2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 6. 
61   This power is granted to the Minister of Justice by Article 17(7) of the Legislative Decree 109/2006, but has 

rarely been exercised in the past. 

62   National Association of Magistrates-Milan Section, Press release of 7 June 2024. 
63   A recent episode concerned two anti-mafia magistrates active in Apulia (information received in the context 
of the country visit to Italy from National Association of Magistrates). As of April 2024, 295 magistrates are 
under police protection (written contribution from Ministry of Justice in the context of the country visit to 
Italy, p. 3). 

64   Written contribution from Ministry of Justice in the context of the country visit to Italy, p. 3. 
65  Input  from  Italy  for  the  2024  Rule  of  Law  Report,  p.  10. The  competitive  procedures  are  three:  the  first, 
launched on 1 December 2021, for 500 posts, the second, launched on 18 October 2022, for 400 posts, the 
third, launched on 9 May 2023, for 12 posts.  

66  Input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 10. Alongside the activities for the recruitment of new 
magistrates,  initiatives  were  taken  to  streamline  the  allocation  of  magistrates  across  the  courts  and  public 
prosecutor's offices,  with a view  to meet the  need to strengthen the staffing of certain judicial offices.  For 
example,  two  decrees  of  the  Ministry  of  Justice  of  14  September  and  22  November  2023  assigned  to  the 
Court and the Prosecutor's Office of North Naples a substantial increase in the number of assigned staff. 

67   Written contribution from Ministry of Justice in the context of the country visit to Italy, p. 3. 
68   Written  contribution  from  Ministry  of  Justice  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy,  pp.  3-4.  In  the 
context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy,  the  National  Association  of  Magistrates  highlighted  that,  to  make 
ordinary justice more efficient, an update of the judicial geography would be necessary, namely a redesign of 
the territorial distribution of the courts and the related staffing, based on actual needs. 

69   Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale.  

9 

 
 
6 magistrates at the Council of State70. Moreover, from July 2023 to April 2024, a total of 46 
administrative staff members have been recruited, with additional 45 staff members planned 
to  be  recruited  by  the  end  of  202471.  As  far  as  tax  courts  are  concerned,  following  the 
introduction  of  a  professional  role  of  tax  judges,  21  judges  from  other  jurisdictions  have 
decided  to  move  to  the  tax  courts72.  Moreover,  one  competition  for  147  tax  judges  will  be 
launched  by  the  end  of 2024  and  additional  competitions  for  approximately  408  tax  judges 
should  be  launched  by  202973,  while  the  professional  profile  of  honorary  judges  will  be 
discontinued.  However,  to  ensure  continuity  of  tax  justice,  the  current  honorary  tax  judges 
may remain in service until they reach the age of 7074. Moreover, from July 2023, a total of 
136  administrative  staff  members  have  been  recruited,  with  additional  80  staff  members 
planned  to  be  recruited  by  the  end  of  202475.  The  Court  of  Auditors  also  recruited  31 
magistrates in 202376. Stakeholders77 reported that clerks for the Office of the Trial78 had a 
positive impact on productivity and quality of the justice system79. 

Civil justice is now fully digitalised and tax justice is expected to be fully digitalised as 
of September 2024. In 2023, the digitalisation of civil justice was fully completed80, and in 
terms  of  procedural  rules  allowing  digital  technology  in  court  in  civil  cases,  Italy  is 
performing at a very high level81. Furthermore, the mandatory electronic management of all 
documents  was  extended,  inter  alia,  to  the  High  Court  of  Cassation  and  the  justices  of  the 
peace82.  Moreover,  since  14  December  2023,  a  database  has  been  made  accessible  to  the 
public,  containing  judgments,  orders  and  decrees,  except  for  those  concerning  family 

70   Written contribution from Council of State in the context of the country visit to Italy, p. 19. The Council of 
State  added  that,  following  these  competitions,  the  vacancies  of  judges  should  be  almost  entirely  covered 
and new competitions to complete the coverage of vacancies should be launched in the next future. 

71  Written contribution from Council of State in the context of the country visit to Italy. 
72   Written contribution from Ministry of Justice (in coordination with Ministry of Economy and Finance) in the 

context of the country visit to Italy, p. 12.  

73  Ibidem. 
74   No more honorary tax judges will be recruited; the current ones who decide to remain in service until they 
retire will not be replaced by other honorary judges. Information received in the context of the country visit 
to Italy from Department of Tax Justice. 

75  Written contribution from Department of Tax Justice in the context of the country visit to Italy. 
76   Written contribution from the Italian authorities, p. 3. 
77   Information  received  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy  from  High  Court  of  Cassation,  National 

Association of Magistrates and High Council for the Judiciary. 

78   Addetti  all’Ufficio  del  Processo.  This  is  a  support  staff  for  the  magistrate,  whose  recruitment  has  been 
financed under the RRP, with tasks, depending on the case, of study, research, drafting of documents or even 
of an administrative nature. 

79   Following a monitoring, the Ministry of Justice recorded a high resignation rate of law clerks, who opted for 
permanent contracts offered by other administrations/organisations, compared to the fixed-term (31 months 
or  24  months)  contract  envisaged  for  their  role.  With  a  view  to  solve  this  issue,  also  considering  the 
important contribution given by law clerks to the quality of justice, Article 1(9)(b) of the Law Decree laying 
down  urgent  provisions  on  legal  deadlines  No.  215  of  30  December  2023,  converted,  with  modifications, 
into Law No. 218 of 23 February 2024, extended the ongoing contracts of the law clerks until 30 June 2026. 
Moreover,  following  a  new  recruitment  procedure,  approx.  3 700  law  clerks  have  been  hired  in  June/July 
2024. See written contribution from the Italian Government, p. 1.  

80   Input  from  Italy  for  the  2024  Rule  of  Law  Report,  p.  13.  In  terms  of  procedural  rules  allowing  digital 
technology in court in civil cases, Italy is one of the best performing countries in EU (Figure 41, 2024 EU 
Justice Scoreboard). In the context of the country visit to Italy, the National Bar Association underlined the 
good level of digitalisation of civil justice.  

81   Figure 41, 2024 EU Justice Scoreboard.  
82   This is part of M1C1-38 milestone of the RRP. 

10 

 
 
relations, children and the status of the person83. From 202484, the tax justice is also largely 
digitalised  and  will  become  completely  digitalised  for  all  cases  introduced  as  from  2 
September  202485.  The  administrative86  and  constitutional87  justice  is  already  fully 
digitalised, and the decisions are freely accessible online. 

There has been some further progress in improving digitalisation of criminal courts and 
prosecutors’ offices, while challenges in implementation remain. The 2023 Rule of Law 
Report  recommended  to  Italy  to  ‘[c]ontinue  efforts  to  further  improve  the  level  of 
digitalisation  for  criminal  courts  and  prosecutors’  offices’88.  According  to  the  2024  EU 
Justice Scoreboard, in terms of digital solutions to conduct and follow  court proceedings in 
criminal  cases,  Italy  ranks last at  the EU level89. It is  only  a negligible part of the criminal 
trial that is digitalised for the time being90. Following a trial phase started in November 2023, 
a new case management system for criminal proceedings, named APP91 (interoperable with 
the PDP92) has become operational since January 202493. On 29 December 2023, the Ministry 
of  Justice  defined  technical  rules  for  digitalised  criminal  justice94.  By  virtue  of  the  same 
decree, the phase of preliminary investigations of criminal  proceedings would be now fully 
digitalised95.  Stakeholders  reported  that,  despite  this  progress,  the  overall  digitalisation  of 
criminal justice needs to be improved96, in particular because the APP is unstable, slow and 

83   Adopted by civil courts since 1 January 2016. 
84   With  the  adoption  of  Legislative  Decree  laying  down  rules  on  tax  proceedings  No.  220  of  30  December 

2023. 

85   Information  received  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy  from  the  Department  of  Tax  Justice. 
Moreover, on 27  June 2024, a database of tax judgements  has been made accessible to the  public (written 
contribution from the Department of Tax Justice).] 

86   Written contribution from the Council of State in the context of the country visit to Italy, p. 12. 
87   Information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from the Constitutional Court.  
88   See 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 2. 
89   See Figure 46, 2024 EU Justice Scoreboard. See also Figure 41, concerning procedural rules allowing digital 
technology in courts in criminal cases, where Italy is one of the least performing countries at the EU level. 
90   The e-portal for the filing of documents in criminal proceedings (Portale Deposito atti Penali; PDP) allows 
the  electronic  submission  of  103  types  of  documents  (they  were  10  until  mid-2023).  See  Decree  of  the 
Minister of Justice Portale deposito atti penali (PDP) No. 155, of 4 July 2023. 

91   Acronym for Applicativo del Processo Penale. 
92   APP  is  also  interoperable  with  the  e-Portal  of  Reports  of  Criminal  Offence  used  by  the  Police  to 

communicate reports of criminal offences to the competent prosecutor’s office. 

93   Input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 14. 
94   Decree of the Ministry of Justice, ‘Regulation laying down Decree pursuant to Article 87, paragraphs 1 and 3 
of Legislative Decree No. 150 of 10 October 2022 and Article 4, paragraph 1 of Decree-Law No 193 of 29 
December  2009,  converted  with  amendments  into  Law  No  24  of  22  February  2010,  laying  down 
amendments  to  Decree  No  44  of  the  Ministry  of  Justice  in  agreement  with  the  Ministry  for  Public 
Administration and Innovation of 21 February 2011’, No. 217 of 29 December 2023, defines the technical 
rules for filing, communication and service of documents in criminal proceedings by electronic means and 
identifies  the  judicial  offices  and  the  types  of  documents  for  which  non-telematic  methods  of  filing, 
communication or service may also be adopted, and the terms of transition to the new filing communication 
and service regime. 

95   This  is  part  of  M1C1-38  milestone  of  the  RRP  that  covers  digitalisation  of  first  instance  criminal 

proceedings with the exclusion of preliminary investigations. 

96   Information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from High Council for the Judiciary, National 
Bar Association, High Court of Cassation, Prosecution Service at the High Court of Cassation. The National 
Bar Association also underlined the existence of many different platforms, which make the digitalised trial 
particularly complex. 

11 

 
 
user-unfriendly97. In view of these developments, some further progress was achieved on the 
recommendation made in the 2023 Rule of Law Report. 

The  reform  of  the  mediation  system  has  been  completed.  The  reform  process  of  the 
mediation system, launched in 202298, has been finalised with the adoption of two decrees of 
the Ministry of Justice in 2023. The Decree of 1 August 2023 outlines the procedures under 
which  parties  and  mediation  bodies  may  benefit  from  tax  credits  in  case  of  a  settlement 
agreement.  The  Decree  of  24  October  2023  lays  down  criteria  and  procedures  for  the 
management  of  the  register  of  mediation  bodies,  imposes  specific  training  obligations,  and 
updates  mediation  bodies’  fees.  Such  provisions  aim 
transparency, 
independence,  and professionalism  of mediation  bodies, to  encourage the use of alternative 
dispute resolution tools and reduce the number of judicial proceedings99. 

to  strengthen 

Efficiency 

The length of proceedings has continued to decrease, even though it remains a serious 
challenge.  According  to  the  2024  EU  Justice  Scoreboard,  in  2022,  the  disposition  time  for 
first  instance  civil  and  commercial  cases  fell  by  20  days  compared  to  2021,  but  remains 
among the lengthiest in the EU, as it still takes 540 days to resolve such cases100. According 
to the European Commission for the efficiency of justice of the Council of Europe (CEPEJ), 
in 2022, the disposition time for first instance criminal cases recorded a remarkable decrease, 
being  equal  to  355  days  against  399  days  in  2021101.  According  to  data  presented  by  the 
authorities, a further improvement of the disposition time could be observed in the first half 
of 2023: the disposition time of first instance civil and commercial cases fell by an additional 
87  days  (being  equal  to  453  days),  whereas  that  of  first  instance  criminal  cases  fell  by  an 
additional 80 days (being equal to 275 days)102. Administrative justice has recorded an even 
better performance: according to the 2024 EU Justice Scoreboard, the estimated time needed 
to resolve first instance administrative cases in 2022 fell by 182 days compared to 2021 (574 
against  756  days)103.  As  for  tax  justice,  a  declining  trend  in  the  disposition  time  of  first 
instance cases can be noted: in 2023, the disposition time was equal to 415 days against 430 
days  of  2022104.  Italy  remains  under  enhanced  supervision  of  the  Council  of  Europe’s 

97   Information  received  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy  from  High  Council  for  the  Judiciary  and 

Prosecution Service at the High Court of Cassation. 

98   Legislative Decree implementing Law no. 206 of 26 November 2021, which empowers the Government for 
the  efficiency  of  the  civil  process  and  the  revision  of  the  regulation  of  alternative  dispute  resolution 
instruments and urgent measures for the rationalisation of proceedings on personal and family rights and on 
enforcement, No. 149 of 10 October 2022. 

99   Input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, pp. 7-8. Written contribution from Ministry of Justice in 

the context of the country visit to Italy, p. 2. 

100  Figure 6, 2024 EU Justice Scoreboard. Only Greece recorded a longer disposition time. In this regard, it is 
worth noting that the number of incoming first instance civil and commercial cases per 100 inhabitants has 
been stable between 2021 and 2022 (2,2 in 2022 against 2,1 in 2021; figure 3, 2024 EU Justice Scoreboard). 

101  See CEPEJ (2024), Study on the functioning of the judicial systems in the EU Member States. 
102  Input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, pp. 16 and 18.  
103  Figure 8, 2024 EU Justice Scoreboard. According to the Council of State, the disposition time was stable in 

2023 (written contribution from the Council of State in the context of the country visit to Italy, p. 14). 
104  Written contribution from the Department of Tax Justice in the context of the country visit to Italy, p. 1. 

12 

 
 
Committee of Ministers as regards the length of proceedings in administrative and criminal 
cases105. 

The backlog of pending cases has been significantly reduced. According to the 2024 EU 
Justice Scoreboard, Italy’s rate of resolving civil, commercial, administrative, and other cases 
in  2022  was  equal  to  106%,  making  it  the  most  effective  Member  State  in  reducing 
backlog106. In the context of the commitments made under the RRP107, Italy has reduced the 
backlog  of  civil  and  administrative  justice.  For  civil  justice,  in  2022  the  backlog  of  first 
instance  courts  decreased  by  18 785  cases  compared  to  2021  (306  337  in  2022  against 
325 012  in  2021);  further  improvements  were  recorded  in  the  first  half  of  2023,  with  a 
decrease of additional 35 200 cases108. As a result, the number of pending civil cases in 2022 
has  continued  to  decrease109.  As  to  administrative  justice,  in  2022  Italy’s  rate  of  resolving 
first instance administrative cases has been the highest in the EU (134%), while the number 
of pending first instance cases is stable110. As regards criminal justice, data presented by the 
authorities show a substantial increase in the number of disposed cases in 2023111. 

II. 

ANTI-CORRUPTION FRAMEWORK  

The  National  Anti-Corruption  Authority  (ANAC)  is  the  main  entity  in  charge  of  the 
prevention  of  corruption  within  the  public  administration  sector,  coordinating  the  National 
Anti-Corruption  Plan  and  supervising  the  adoption  of  the  local  three-year  anti-corruption 
action  plans.  The  Anti-Corruption  Unit  of  the  Guardia  di  Finanza  is  responsible  for  the 
investigation  of  corruption  as  a  specialised  law  enforcement  body.  As  an  independent 
authority  at  the  Bank  of  Italy,  the  Financial  Intelligence  Unit  provides  support  to  the 
competent prosecutor’s office and cooperates with the Guardia di Finanza as the competent 
authority  for  receiving  reports  of  suspicious  financial  transactions.  To  prevent  and  fight 
corruption  in  the  allocation  and  implementation  process  of  resources  received  under  the 
Recovery and Resilience Plan, consultative and control tasks have also been assigned to the 
Court of Auditors112. 

The perception among experts and business executives is that the level of corruption in 
the  public  sector  remains  relatively  high.  In  the  2023  Corruption  Perceptions  Index  by 
Transparency  International,  Italy  scores  56/100  and  ranks  17th  in  the  European  Union  and 

105  See 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 9. 
106  Figure 10, 2024 EU Justice Scoreboard. 
107  In particular, measure M1C1-41 to 44, 47 and 48. 
108  Input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 17. Italy noted that this significant reduction is, at least 
partly,  related  to  the  dynamics  of  the  backlog:  in  the  first  half  of  2023,  the  new  backlog  is  made  up  of 
pending cases initiated in 2020, a year in which the pandemic caused a decrease in the number of new cases 
(-21.4% compared to 2019). Moreover, Italy underlined that, in 2022, the trend, especially in some courts, 
had been affected by the exceptional number of international protection proceedings initiated in 2019. In the 
first half of 2023, this matter accounted for 5.4% of the total backlog (it was 6.0% at the end of 2022). Net of 
international protection, the trend of Courts backlog would have shown an even better flow. 

109  Figure  14, 2024  EU  Justice  Scoreboard.  For 2022  the  number  in  terms of  first  instance pending  cases  per 

100 inhabitants was equal to 3.4 (against 3.6 in 2021, 4.1 in 2016 and 6.3 in 2010). 

110  Figures 12 and 15, 2024 EU Justice Scoreboard. 
111  Estimated in 12.5%. Input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 18. 
112  Law  laying  down  rules  for  the  fulfilment  of  obligations  arising  from  Italy’s  membership  of  the  European 

Union – European Law 2019-2020, No. 238 of 23 December 2021, Article 46. 

13 

 
 
42nd  globally113.  This  perception  has  been  relatively  stable  over  the  past  five  years114.  The 
2024  Special  Eurobarometer  on  Corruption  shows  that  78%  of  respondents  consider 
corruption  widespread  in  their  country  (EU  average  68%)  and  31%  of  respondents  feel 
personally  affected  by  corruption  in  their  daily  lives  (EU  average  27%)115.  As  regards 
businesses, 83% of companies consider that corruption is widespread (EU average 65%) and 
50%  consider  that  that  corruption  is  a  problem  when  doing  business  (EU  average  36%)116. 
Furthermore, 37% of respondents find that there are enough successful prosecutions to deter 
people  from  corrupt  practices  (EU  average  32%)117,  while  32%  of  companies  believe  that 
people  and  businesses  caught  for  bribing  a  senior  official  are  appropriately  punished  (EU 
average 31%)118. 

The  National  Anti-Corruption  Plan  was  updated  to  strengthen  the  section  on  public 
contracts and guidelines on revolving doors are being developed. By Resolution No. 605 
of  19  December  2023119,  ANAC  adopted  targeted  changes  to  the  2022  National  Anti-
corruption  Plan  (NAP)120,  in  particular  to  the  part  related  to  public  contracts.  The  changes 
provide  clarifications  and  amendments  to  introduce  references,  as  necessary,  to  the  new 
Public Procurement Code121 and include the applicable transitional rules for the digitalisation 
of  the  procurement  system122.  The  changes  also  update  the  list  of  risk  indicators  and 
transparency,  control,  simplification,  regulatory  and  organisational  measures  to  support 
public entities to mitigate corruption and maladministration risks in public contracts that are 
financed with  the funds  from  the RRP123. Such measures notably include the conclusion of 

113  Transparency International (2024), Corruption Perceptions Index 2023. The level of perceived corruption is 
categorised  as  follows:  low  (the  perception  among  experts  and  business  executives  of  public-sector 
corruption scores above 79), relatively low (scores between 79-60), relatively high (scores between 59-50), 
high (scores below 50). 

114  In 2019, the score was 53, while in 2023 the score is 56. The score significantly increases/decreases when it 
changes  more  than  five  points;  improves/deteriorates  (changes  between  4-5  points);  is  relatively  stable 
(changes from 1-3 points) in the last five years. 

115  Special Eurobarometer 548 on Citizens’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU (2024). The Eurobarometer 
data  on  citizens’  corruption  perception  and  experience  is  updated  every  year.  The  previous  data  set  is  the 
Special Eurobarometer 534 (2023). 

116  Flash Eurobarometer 543 on Businesses’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU (2024). The Eurobarometer 
data  on  business  attitudes  towards  corruption  is  updated  every  year.  The  previous  data  set  is  the  Flash 
Eurobarometer 524 (2023). 

117  Special Eurobarometer 548 on Citizens’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU (2024).  
118  Flash Eurobarometer 543 on Businesses’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU (2024). 
119  ANAC, National Anti-corruption Plan, Update 2023, Resolution No. 605 of 19 December 2023 (‘Resolution 

605/2023’). 

120  The NAP, adopted by ANAC Resolution  No. 7 of 17 January 2023, will be in force from 2023-2025. The 
NAP  sets  out  the  main  policy  objectives  for  a  three-year period,  to  be  updated  every  year.  Each  ministry, 
local  government  and  municipality  design  and  implement  their  own  local  plans.  Municipalities  and 
institutions with fewer than 50 employees only need to update their policy every three years thus reducing 
their administrative burden. ANAC supports the public administration in designing and implementing entity-
specific  three-year  action  plans. The  NAP  has  a  general  section  to  support  public officials  in  the planning 
and monitoring of anti-corruption and transparency measures and a special section on public contracts. 

121  Legislative Decree laying down Public Procurement Code implementing Article 1 of Law 21 June 2022, No. 
78, which delegates the Government in the field of public works contracts, No. 36 of 31 March 2023. The 
new Code has been in force since 1 July 2023. See also 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the 
rule of law situation in Italy, p. 18. 

122  ANAC, Resolution 605/2023, p. 12. Written contribution from ANAC in the context of the country visit to 

Italy, pp. 1-2. 

123  Public entities involved in the public contracts system may incorporate these measures into their three-year 
anticorruption plans and adapt them to their individual organisational needs and set-up. Written contribution 

14 

 
 
 
integrity  agreements  on  the  part  of  the  contractor  to  take  anti-mafia  and  anti-corruption 
measures during the contract’s life-cycle124. As part of the NAP, ANAC is also in the process 
of developing guidelines on revolving doors125. The objective is to improve ANAC’s existing 
guidance  on  the  prohibition  of  revolving  doors  to  help  public  administrations  and  entities 
identify preventative measures. The guidelines will also clarify the applicable sanctions and 
ANAC’s enforcement powers. 

The  Parliament  approved  a  draft  law  abrogating  the  offence  of  abuse  of  public  office 
and  limiting  the  scope  of  the  offence  of  trading  in  influence.  On  10  July  2024,  the 
Parliament  approved  a  draft  law126  to  abrogate  the  offence  of  abuse  of  public  office  and 
reduce  the  scope  of  the  offence  of  trading  in  influence.  The  changes  to  the  scope  of  the 
offence of trading in influence aim to exclude not only cases where the intermediary merely 
alleges to be able to influence the public official, but also cases where the promised or given 
advantage  is  not  economic127.  The  Government  considers  that  only  a  fraction  of  all  related 
criminal  proceedings  for  abuse  of  public  office  would  end  in  a  conviction128,  which  would 
demonstrate  the  ineffectiveness  of  criminalising  such  behaviour,  when  compared  to  the 
administrative  and  financial  resources  invested  in  carrying  out  the  related  procedural 
activities129.  Moreover,  the  government  claims  that  the  offence  has  a  paralysing  effect  on 
public  administrations  and  other  corruption  offences  provide  for  a  sufficiently  strong 
legislative framework to combat acts that undermine the impartiality and proper conduct of 
the public administration.  130. However, the criminalisation of abuse of office and trading in 
influence  are  part  of  the  international  conventions  on  corruption  and  are  therefore  essential 
tools for law enforcement  and prosecution to  fight  corruption131. Stakeholders have pointed 

from ANAC  in  the  context  of  the  country visit  to  Italy,  p.  2. The  update  also  addresses  the  critical  issues 
identified in the various phases of the contract life cycle. ANAC, Resolution 605/2023, p. 16.  
124  ANAC, Resolution 605/2023, p. 28, and input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 26. 
125 Written contribution from ANAC in the context of the country visit to Italy, p. 3, and input from Italy for the 
2024 Rule of Law  Report,  pp. 22-23. The guidelines have been open for public consultation until 10 May 
2024. The 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 11, had referred 
to ANAC’s  in-depth  study  on  the  prohibition  of  revolving  doors  to  avoid  possible  conflicts  of  interest  in 
public administration and its intention to adopt guidelines.  

126  Draft  law  A.C.  1718,  Amendments  to  the  Criminal  Code,  the  Code  of  Criminal  Procedure,  the  Judicial 

System and the Code of Military Regulations. 

127  See 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 12, footnote 87. 
128  Out of 5 292 proceedings concluded for the offence, there were only 9 convictions and in 2022, out of 4481 
proceedings,  only  18  convictions.  Written  contribution  from  the  Ministry  of  Justice  in  the  context  of  the 
country visit to Italy, p. 23. See 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in 
Italy, p. 12, footnote 86.  

129 Written contribution from the Ministry of Justice in the context of the country visit to Italy, pp. 21-22. The 
provisions  in  the  Criminal  Code  on  the  offence  of  abuse  of  public  office  have  been  changed  at  least  five 
times  between  1930  and  2020.  See ANAC’s  President  statements  before  the  Senate  of  the  Republic  of  5 
September 2023 (pp. 5-6) and before the Chamber of Deputies on 28 March 2024 (pp. 5-7). 

130  Written contribution from the Ministry of Justice in the context of the country visit to Italy, pp. 3-4.  
131  Abuse  of  public  office  and  trading  in  influence  are  part  of  the  United  Nations  Convention  Against 
Corruption and trading in influence is part of the Criminal law Convention against corruption of the Council 
of Europe. The Commission proposed to criminalise these offences at Union level in May 2023, following 
the commitment of its President in the State of the Union in 2022, see COM(2023) 234 final, 3.5.2023. In a 
hearing before the Justice Committee of the Senate of the Republic on 5 September 2023, ANAC’s President 
stated  that  the  draft  law  would  run  counter  to  the  Commission  proposal  and  international  anti-corruption 
conventions. In this regard,  see contribution from Magistrats Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés 
for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 18. There are at least 25 Member States that criminalise abuse of office, 
see COM(2023) 234 final, 3.5.2023, p. 12. 

15 

 
 
out that abrogating the offence of abuse of office could lead to lower levels of detecting and 
investigating  fraud  and  corruption132.  Moreover133,  reducing  the  scope  of  the  offence  of 
trading  in  influence  would  need  to  be  counterbalanced  by  stronger  lobbying  rules134.  On  3 
July  2024,  the  Government  approved  a  Law  Decree  that  introduces  a  new  offence  of 
embezzlement covering cases of improper allocation of money or movable property by public 
officials135.   

Proposed  changes  to  the  statute  of  limitations  currently  under  scrutiny  in  the 
Parliament  could  reduce  the  time  available  to  conduct  proceedings  for  criminal 
offences,  including  on  corruption  cases.  On  16  January  2024,  the  Chamber  of  Deputies 
approved  a  draft  law136  to  change  the  rules  on  the  statute  of  limitations  for  criminal 
offences137. The draft law is currently under scrutiny in the Justice Committee of the Senate 
of  the  Republic.  The  judicial  authorities  have  raised  concerns  that  the  proposed  reform, 
coming so soon after the one in 2021 (there have been five such reforms since 2016), would 
impose  a  large  administrative  burden  to  recalculate  the  applicable  limitation  periods  for  all 
pending cases, with a possible detrimental effect on the duration of judicial proceedings and 
the  elimination  of  the  backlog  of  cases.  They  have  also  expressed  the  view  that  this 

132  See ANAC’s President statements before the Senate  of the Republic of 5 September 2023 (pp. 12-13) and 
before the Chamber of Deputies of 28 March 2024 (pp. 12-14 and 17) and written contribution from ANAC 
in  the  context  of  the  country visit  to  Italy,  p.  9.  See  also  contributions  from  EPPO  (p. 34)  and  Magistrats 
Européens  pour  la  Démocratie  et  les  Libertés  (p.  18)  for  the  2024  Rule  of  Law  Report,  and  written 
contribution  from  The  Good  Lobby  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy  (p.  4).  Information  also 
received in the context of the country visit to Italy from National Anti-mafia and Anti-terrorism Directorate, 
Prosecution  Office  at  the  High  Court  of  Cassation,  Transparency  International Italy  and  OpenPolis.  In  the 
context of the country visit to Italy, the Prosecution Service at the High Court of Cassation noted that the 
difference between the number of proceedings and convictions could even  be interpreted positively in that 
this  showed  that  the  investigative  authorities  were  being  thorough  in  examining  the  evidence.  ANAC’s 
President made a similar observation before the Chamber of Deputies on 28 March 2024 (p. 4). 

133  Information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from The Good Lobby, Libera, ANAC and 
the Prosecution Service at the High Court of Cassation. See also written contribution from The Good Lobby 
in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy,  as  well  as  the  publications  from  The  Good  Lobby  ‘Regulate 
lobbying  to  improve  democracy’  and  ‘Anticorruption  Decalogue’; ANAC  President’s  statement  before  the 
Chamber of Deputies on 28 March 2024 (pp. 18 and 21). 

134  On lobbying, the Government has indicated that the complexity of the conflicts of interest rules are such as 
to require ad hoc intervention that could be addressed at a later stage after this reform has been approved. 
See  written  contribution from  Presidency  of  the  Council  of  Ministers-Department  for  legal  and  legislative 
affairs and Department for relations with Parliament in the context of the country visit to Italy, p. 21. 

135  Law Decree of 3 July 2024, No. 92, Urgent measures in the field of prisons, civil and criminal justice and 
staff  of  the  Ministry  of  Justice.  Article  9  of  the  Law  Decree  amends  the  Criminal  Code  by  introducing 
Article  314-bis,  Misappropriation  of  money  or  movable  property  (Indebita  destinazione  di  denaro  o  cose 
mobili also known as peculato per distrazione). The Law Decree needs to be converted into law within 60 
days from its adoption. Written contribution from the Italian Government. 

136  Draft Law A.C. 893, Amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure on the subject 
of limitation periods. Ministry of Justice, press releases of 25 October 2023 Statute of limitation back to the 
substantive limitation period, and of 8 December 2023 Statute of limitation, Nordio and Sisto: ‘full harmony, 
no confrontation’. See also written contribution from Ministry of Justice in the context of the country visit to 
Italy, p. 24, and contribution from the High Court of Cassation for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, pp. 22-23. 
137  The  draft  law  consists  of  two  main  pillars:  the  reintroduction  of  the  rule  that  the  statute  of  limitations 
continues  to  run  after  a  first  instance  judgement  of  acquittal,  while  a  conviction  at  first  instance  will  still 
have a suspensive effect on the statute of limitations (currently, the statute of limitations is always suspended 
after a decision of first instance, whether an acquittal or a conviction); the repeal of the mechanism by which 
criminal  prosecution  is  time  barred  (improcedibilità)  if  the  maximum  duration  of  the  appeal  stages  is 
exceeded. 

16 

 
 
development  could  affect  the  effective  prosecution  and  adjudication  of  criminal  offences, 
including high-level corruption cases138.  

The  total  number  of  convictions  for  corruption  offences  decreased  slightly.  The  total 
number of convictions for natural persons for corruption offences decreased slightly in 2023 
(1  361)  compared  to  2022  (1  483),  and  143  are  already  registered  for  2024139.  For  legal 
persons,  the  number  dropped  to  9  in  2023  from  19  in  2022140.  The  number  of  custodial 
sentences and financial penalties imposed were comparable: 79 custodial sentences and fines, 
1  055  custodial  sentences  and  51  financial  penalties  imposed  in  2023,  while  there  were  86 
custodial sentences and fines, 1 135 custodial sentences and 87 financial penalties imposed in 
2022.  The  corresponding  figures  for  2024  currently  stand  at  6,  101  and  13,  respectively141. 
The number of suspended sentences, though reduced in 2023, remains high: 108 (or 75% of 
total sentences) so far in 2024, 931 (68%) in 2023 and 1032 (70%) in 2022142.  

Law enforcement authorities continued to benefit from investments in IT tools to help 
them  carry  out  their  tasks  more  efficiently.  The  interoperability  of  databases  is 
fundamental  to  the  work  of  law  enforcement  agencies,  to  help  simplify  administrative 
procedures  and  to  fight  tax  fraud,  fraud  in  public  expenditure  and  economic  and  organised 
crime more effectively143. Digitalisation has taken on a primary and strategic role thanks to 
funding  opportunities  under  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Plan144.  The  Guardia  di  Finanza, 
for  instance,  has  continued  to  renew  and  strengthen  its  technological  infrastructure  and  has 
issued a multi-annual plan where IT plays a fundamental role. It has also consolidated various 
databases  on  a  single  platform  to  facilitate  access  to  and  use  of  data  and  information  on 
natural  and  legal  persons  subject  to  an  investigation145.  The  National  Anti-mafia  and  Anti-
terrorism Directorate has launched a process to update and consolidate the databases for its 
26  district  prosecutors  to  facilitate  cooperation  and  better  access  to  information146.  The 

138  The  following  authorities  called  for  a  transitional  regime  for  pending  appeal  proceedings,  so  that  the 
applicable  time  limitation  periods  would  not  have  to  be  recalculated:  the  presidents  of  the  Italian Appeal 
Courts  (by  letter  of  22  November  2023  to  the  Minister  of  Justice  and  the  Presidents  of  the  Justice 
Committees of both Houses of the Parliament), the High Council of the Judiciary (by advice on the draft law 
through  a  resolution  dated  17  January  2024)  and  the  National  Association  of  Magistrates  on  20  January 
2024.  See  contribution  from  the  High  Court  of  Cassation  for  the  2024  Rule  of  Law  report,  pp.  22-23. 
Information  also  received  from  Prosecution  Service  at  the  High  Court  of  Cassation  in  the  context  of  the 
country visit to Italy. Such a transitional regime also applies until the end of 2024 to the amendments made 
to time limitation periods in 2021, see contribution from the High Court of Cassation for the 2024 Rule of 
Law Report. 

139  Written contribution from the Ministry of Justice  in the context of the country visit to Italy, Annex 3. The 

decrease in the number of convictions between 2023 and 2022 is around 8%.  

140  Written contribution from the Ministry of Justice in the context of the country visit to Italy (p. 26). 
141  Written contribution from the Ministry of Justice in the context of the country visit to Italy, Annexes 4- 6. 
142  Written  contribution  from  the  Ministry  of  Justice  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy, Annex  7.  It 
should  be  noted  that  the  data  of  recent  years  could  deviate  from  the  real  ones  due  to  the  backlog  in  the 
feeding  of  the  system.  Law  enforcement  authorities  did  not  have  any  data  to  provide  on  whistleblowing 
reports. 

143  See 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, pp. 13-14. 
144  Information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from the Guardia di Finanza.  
145  Information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from the Guardia di Finanza.  
146  Given  the  increased  importance  of  fighting  cybercrime  and  strengthening  cybersecurity  of  critical 
infrastructure,  Legislative  Decree  No  105/2023  extended  the  National  Anti-mafia  and  Anti-terrorism 
Directorate’s  competence  to  these  areas  for  the  first  time,  which  also  highlights  the  importance  of  inter-
agency cooperation. Written contribution from the National Anti-mafia and Anti-terrorism Directorate in the 
context of the country visit to Italy (p. 1). 

17 

 
 
Ultimate Beneficial Ownership Register, set  up in  June 2022, finally entered into operation 
on 29 September 2023 and will provide law enforcement authorities with an important source 
of  information  to  carry  out  their  investigations.  Cooperation  and  coordination  in  practice 
between the various national police and prosecution services, the tax authorities and ANAC 
continues to be effective147, as is the cooperation between police, law enforcement agencies 
and EPPO148.  

There has been some further progress to adopt comprehensive legislation on conflicts of 
interest.  The  2023  Rule  of  Law  Report  recommended  to  Italy  to  ‘adopt  comprehensive 
conflict  of  interest  rules  […]’149.  Efforts  to  adopt  comprehensive  legislation  on  conflicts  of 
interest for political office holders, including parliamentarians, have stalled over the years150. 
On 28 May 2024, the Chamber of Deputies approved a draft law151 to update the conflict-of-
interest  rules  for  state,  regional  or  local  government  office  holders  and  members  of  certain 
supervisory  authorities  and  prohibit  the  receipt  of  payments  from  foreign  states  by  public 
office holders. The draft law would not cover all parliamentarians but only those who are at 
the same time government  officeholders152.  The proposal  is  now under consideration in  the 
Senate  of  the  Republic.  In  parallel,  a  draft  law  presented  in  March  2023153,  to  amend  and 

147  See also 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, pp. 13-14. 
148  EPPO  and  Guardia  di  Finanza  were  involved  in  an  international  large-scale  investigation  into  an  alleged 
criminal  organisation  suspected  of  defrauding  EUR  600  million  from  the  RRP.  EPPO,  Press  release  of  4 
April  2024,  Investigation  ‘Resilient  Crime’:  22  arrests  in  raid  against  criminal  organisation  suspected  of 
EUR  600  million  fraud  involving  NextGenerationEU  funds.  Cooperation  between  EPPO  and  the  national 
prosecution offices is more complex, however, due to the (fragmented) national structure. Contribution from 
EPPO for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 32. The EPPO  investigated 42 corruption cases, which is 2% of 
its total cases in Italy, EPPO, Annual Report 2023, p. 37. 

149  2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 2 In the 2023 Rule of Law 
Report,  the  Commission  concluded  that  some  progress  was  made  on  adopting  comprehensive  conflict  of 
interest  rules  following  the  recommendation  made  in  2022.  See  also  2022  Rule  of  Law  Report,  Country 
Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 2.  

150  See 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 14, including related 
references  to  2022,  2021  and  2020  Rule  of  Law  Report  (pp.  16,  11-12  and  11  respectively).  The  need  to 
strengthen  Italy’s  integrity  framework  for  parliamentarians  in  relation  to  conflicts  of  interest,  codes  of 
conduct and lobbying rules has been the subject of various recommendations by GRECO for a number of 
years,  most  recently  in  2024.  See  GRECO,  Fourth  Evaluation  Round,  Second  Addendum  to  the  Second 
Compliance  Report  on  Italy  on  corruption  prevention  in  respect  of  members  of  parliament,  judges  and 
prosecutors, pp. 2-8. 

151  Draft Law A.C. 304 proposes to repeal the law laying down rules on the resolution of conflicts of interest, 
No.  215  of  20  July  2004,  and  to  establish  a  preventive  mechanism  to  avoid  the  emergence  of  conflicts, 
including those arising from the mere ownership of large assets, and to provide for different types of fines 
and reputational penalties. State office holders include the Prime Minister, Vice-Presidents of the Council of 
Ministers, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, State Secretaries and the Special Commissioners of the Government. 
Written  contribution  from  the  Presidency  of  the  Council  of  Ministers-Department  for  legal  and  legislative 
affairs and Department for relations with Parliament in the context of the country visit to Italy, pp. 18-20. 
152  Written  contribution  from  the  Presidency  of  the  Council  of  Ministers-Department  for  legal  and  legislative 
affairs  and  Department  for  relations  with  Parliament  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy,  p.  20. 
According  to  information  received  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy  from  Parliamentary 
Committees,  all  parliamentarians  would  nevertheless  be  covered  by  the  provisions  prohibiting  receipt  of 
payments from foreign states. See also GRECO (2024), Fourth Evaluation Round, Second Addendum to the 
Second Compliance Report on Italy on corruption prevention in respect of members of parliament,  judges 
and prosecutors, pp. 3-4. 

153  Doc. II No. 6 of 1 March 2023, Proposal for an amendment to the Rules of Procedure-Introduction of the 
Code of Conduct for Deputies, currently under consideration by the Executive Committee for the Rules of 
Procedure  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  (Giunta  per  il  Regolamento  della  Camera  dei  Deputati).  This 

18 

 
 
 
strengthen  the  Chamber  of  Deputies’  Rules  of  Procedure  by  codifying  certain  key 
transparency  provisions  of  the  2016  Code  of  Conduct  and  increasing  the  sanctions  for 
breaches,  is  still  pending154.  Given  that  one  of  the  legislative  proposals  was  passed  by  the 
Chamber of Deputies, and both are still pending adoption without a specific timeframe, there 
has  been  some  further  progress  on  the  implementation  of  the  recommendations  made  in 
previous years. 

There  has  been  no  further  progress  on  adopting  comprehensive  lobbying  rules  and 
establishing a legislative footprint. The 2023 Rule of Law Report recommended to Italy to 
‘adopt comprehensive […] lobbying regulation to establish an operational lobbying register, 
including a legislative footprint’155. Although the Chamber of Deputies has rules on lobbying 
and  a  lobbying  register  of  interest  representatives156,  comprehensive  lobbying  rules  are 
lacking  for  both  parliamentary  chambers157.  The  lack  of  regulation  of  lobbying  activities is 
perceived as one of the main weaknesses in the national integrity system158. As of December 
2023,  there  were  365  legal  and  74  natural  persons  registered  (compared  to  318  and  62 
respectively in mid-March 2023), which shows an improvement159. As was the case last year, 
no  parliamentary  debates  took  place  on  any  of  the  draft  laws  tabled  in  either  of  the  two 
chambers160.  The  fact-finding  inquiry  into  the  activities  of  interest  representations, 

proposal is similar to that made in the previous legislature (former Doc. II, No. 21) as it also aims to respond 
to a GRECO recommendation. See 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation 
in Italy, p. 15. 

154  Written contribution from the Parliamentary Committees in the context of the country visit to Italy. See also 
the 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, pp. 14-15. In its latest 
evaluation,  GRECO  concluded  that  its  recommendation  to formalize  the  Code  of  Conduct  in  the  Rules  of 
Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies and its further refinement through detailed guidance on its provisions, 
and  the  establishment  of  an  effective  enforcement  and  accountability  regime,  addressed  to both  chambers, 
and its recommendation for clear and enforceable conflict of interest rules for parliamentarians, are still only 
partly  implemented.  GRECO,  Fourth  Evaluation  Round,  Second  Addendum  to  the  Second  Compliance 
Report on Italy on corruption prevention in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors, pp. 2-
5. 

155  2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 2, and 2022 Rule of Law 
Report,  Country  Chapter  on  the  rule  of  law  situation  in  Italy,  p.  2.  In  the  2023  report,  the  Commission 
assessed  that  some  progress  on  adopting  lobbying  regulation  to  establish  an  operational  lobbying  register, 
including a legislative footprint, was made. 

156  Decision of No. 208/2017 on lobbying in the Chamber of Deputies establishes a mandatory public register of 
lobbyists for any individual or legal entity representing collective interests. This only regulates activities of 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  not  of  the  Senate  of  the  Republic.  Across  the  national  territory,  the  situation 
remains  fragmented  with  no  national  register  for  the  government  and  no  systematic  or  standardised 
approach. See 2023 and 2022 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, pp. 
15 and 17, respectively.  

157  GRECO had noted that Decision No. 208/2017 only tackles the lobbyists part of the issue and underlined the 
need for Italy to develop targeted guidance to give deputies clear directions on how to engage with lobbyists 
and the expected conduct of behaviour. GRECO urged the Senate of the Republic to regulate on this matter 
too.  GRECO,  Fourth  Evaluation  Round,  Second  Compliance  Report  on  Italy  on  corruption  prevention  in 
respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors, p. 6. 

158  The Lobbying4Change Coalition, led by The Good Lobby, consisting of 44 organisations and supported by 
more  than  21  600  citizens  who  signed  a  petition  for  a  lobbying  law,  has  been  pushing  for  the  effective 
regulation of lobbying activities and conflict of interests: see the publication ‘Regulate lobbying to improve 
democracy’. See also written contribution from The Good Lobby in the context of the country visit to Italy. 

159  See 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 15.  
160  Under  the  current  legislature  that  started  in  October  2022,  four  draft  laws  have  been  presented  to  the 
Chamber of Deputies and five to the Senate of the Republic, but to date the examination of these proposals 
has not yet started. Written contribution from Presidency of the Council of Ministers-Department for legal 

19 

 
 
 
established in March 2023, was extended until 31 March 2024 from its original deadline of 
June  2023161.  Based  on  the  inquiry’s  outcome,  the  relevant  Committee  plans  to  draw  up  a 
report  and  assess  the  need  to  either  draw  up  new  regulations  or  issue  a  guide162.  Some 
weariness  has  been  voiced  over  conducting  an  inquiry  since  for  them  concrete  legislative 
action  is  needed163.  They  also  underline  that  the  need  for  comprehensive  rules  on  lobbying 
activities, including a precise definition of a lobbyist, has become more important in view of 
the  proposed  changes  to  the  scope  of  the  criminal  offence  of  trading  in  influence164.  The 
GRECO  further  concludes  that,  apart  from  rules  governing  the  activities  of  third  parties  or 
lobbyists,  what  are  also  needed  are  rules  covering  the  relations  and  contacts  of 
parliamentarians  with  lobbyists165.  A  ‘legislative  footprint’  is  still  lacking166.  As  there  have 
not  been any concrete legislative developments,  and it is  still unclear if the Parliament will 
propose  comprehensive  rules  or  set  up  a  legislative  footprint,  no  further  progress  has  been 
made to implement the recommendation made in previous years. 

There  has  been  no  further  progress  on  political  party  and  campaign  financing  since 
draft laws are still being debated. The 2023 Rule of Law report recommended to  Italy to 
‘effectively  and  swiftly  address  the  practice  of  channelling  donations  through  political 
foundations and associations and introduce a single electronic register for party and campaign 
finance information’167. As reported in previous years168, the current practice of private party 

and  legislative  affairs  and  Department  for  relations  with  Parliament  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to 
Italy, p. 20. See also input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 22, and 2023 Rule of Law Report, 
Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 16. 

161  Around 30 constitutional law professionals presented their views to the inquiry in 2023. The last hearing was 
on 5 December 2023 and are being resumed in 2024. Information received in the context of the country visit 
to Italy from Parliamentary Committees. See also  input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 22, 
and the 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 15.  
162  Information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from Parliamentary Committees.  
163  See contribution from The Good Lobby for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 14.  Over 100 bills have been 
tabled  since  1976  with  none  receiving  definitive  approve  from  either  Chamber  of  Parliament.  The  Good 
Lobby further observed during the country visit that the hearings were too academic and legalistic and not 
focused enough on the ‘sociological’ aspects.  

164  See also The Good Lobby, Are we all traders of influence? The ANAC President made similar remarks in his 
statement  before  the  Justice  Committee  of  the  Senate  of  the  Republic  on  5  September  2023  (pp.  15-16). 
Information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from the National Bar Association.  

165  GRECO  concludes  that  its  recommendation  to  further  develop  the  applicable  rules  on  how  members  of 
Parliament  (in  both  Chambers)  engage  with  lobbyists  and  other  third  parties  who  seek  to  influence  the 
parliamentary process has not been implemented. GRECO, Fourth Evaluation Round, Corruption prevention 
in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors, Second Addendum to the Second Compliance 
Report on Italy on corruption prevention in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors, pp. 7-
8. 

166  Open Polis launched an online platform in early 2024 called OpenParlamento to increase transparency and 
enable  citizens  to  monitor  closely  the  work  of  the  government  and  parliament.  Written  contribution  from 
Open Polis in the context of the country visit to Italy, pp. 1-2. 

167  2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 2. See also the 2022 Rule 
of  Law  Report,  Country  Chapter  on  the  rule  of  law  situation  in  Italy,  p.  2.  In  the  2023  report,  the 
Commission  assessed  that  some  progress  was  made  on  effectively  addressing  the  practice  of  channelling 
donations through political foundations and associations and introducing single electronic register for party 
and  campaign  finance  information.  The  European  Commission  Recommendation  (EU)  2023/2829  of  12 
December 2023 on inclusive and resilient electoral processes in the Union calls for Member States to address 
any gaps in their legislation related to donations and other funding from third countries to political parties, 
political foundations, electoral campaigns and candidates. 

168  See e.g., 2023 and 2022 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, pp. 16-17 

and pp. 17-18 respectively.  

20 

 
 
donations could impede public accountability and may even result in private donors exerting 
disproportionate  influence  on  the  political  agenda  depending  on  the  size  of  their 
contributions169.  Various  draft  laws  tabled  in  both  houses  of  Parliament  over  the  years  to 
address  this  long-standing  issue  have  not  been  adopted170.  The  Constitutional  Affairs 
Committee  of  the  Senate  of  the  Republic  is  now  examining  two  draft  laws  presented  in 
December  2022  and  March  2023171  that  aim  to  consolidate,  rationalise  and  strengthen 
existing rules on political parties and their financing and increase transparency172. In parallel, 
a draft law was presented in 2023173 to amend the rules of the Committee for Transparency 
and Control of Political Parties and Political Movements174. This draft law aims to increase 
the  Committee’s  autonomy  comparable  to  an  independent  administrative  body175.  The 
outcome and way forward of these various discussions, as well as a technical  report on the 
financing  of  the  Committee  are  still  pending176.  A  centralised,  single,  machine-readable 

169  Italy  prohibits  direct  public  funding  to  political  parties,  including  for  political  campaigns.  Since  2014, 
political  parties  are  required  to  finance  themselves  almost  exclusively  through  private  donations  from 
individual donors or legal entities.  

170  See 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 16.  
171  Draft law A.S. 207 amending Law Decree No. 149 of 28 December 2013, converted, with amendments, into 
Law  No.  13  of  21  February  2014,  on  statutes,  transparency  and  financing  of  political  parties,  as  well  as 
delegating  the  Government  to  adopt  a  consolidated  text  of  the  provisions  concerning  political  parties  and 
movements  for  the  full  implementation  of Article  49  of  the  Constitution  presented  on  6  December  2022. 
Draft law A.S. 549 laying down provisions for the implementation of Article 49 of the Constitution in the 
field of regulation of parties and delegating the Government to adopt a consolidated text of the provisions 
concerning political parties, political activity, electoral campaigns, forms of contributions and transparency 
of  budgets  and  accounts  presented  on  7  March  2023. Another  draft  law  was  presented  to  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies, but its examination has not yet started (Draft Law A.C. 533 amending Law Decree No. 149 of 28 
December  2013,  converted,  with  amendments,  into  Law  No.  13  of  21  February  2014,  on  statutes, 
transparency and financing of political parties, as well as delegating the Government to adopt a consolidated 
text of the provisions concerning political parties and movement). Information received in the context of the 
country  visit  to  Italy  from  Parliamentary  Committees  and  written  contribution  from  Presidency  of  the 
Council  of  Ministers-Department  for  legal  and  legislative  affairs  and  Department  for  relations  with 
Parliament in the context of the country visit to Italy, p. 21. 

172  Draft  Law  A.S.  207  proposes  the  integration  of  the  statutory  content  of  political  parties  to  including 
transparency  requirements  on  the  powers  and  composition  of  the  parties’  decision-making,  executive  and 
supervisory bodies, the arrangements for their election and their members’ term of office; stricter limits for 
private  donations  and  the  reintroduction  of public funding  to  parties  according  to  fair distribution  criteria. 
Draft law A.S. 549 proposes to consolidate the relevant provisions on transparency obligations, the statutory 
requirements of political parties and how they contribute financially. Written contribution from Presidency of 
the  Council  of  Ministers-Department  for  legal  and  legislative  affairs  and  Department  for  relations  with 
Parliament in the context of the country visit to Italy, p. 21, and information received in the context of the 
country visit to Italy from Parliamentary Committees. 

173  Draft law A.S. 552, Amendment to Law no. 96 of 6 July 2012 on the regulation of the Commission for the 
verification of statutes and the control of the accounts of political parties. Information received in the context 
of the country visit to Italy from Parliamentary Committees. 

174  Commissione di garanzia degli statuti e per la trasparenza e il controllo dei rendiconti dei partiti politici. 
The  Committee,  established  by  Law  No.  96  of  6  July  2012,  is  tasked  with  checking  the  regularity  and 
compliance of the political parties’ statements for each accounting year. Its powers and responsibilities have 
been extended over the years, most recently by Law no. 3 of 9 January 2019. In its reports to Parliament on 
29 April 2024 (pp. 8-9) and 20 April 2023 (pp. 8-9), the Committee had noted the need for more resources 
due to its increasingly numerous and complex tasks. 

175  The  draft  law  proposes  a  number  of  rules  including  on  the  board’s  fixed  non-renewable  term,  its  size, 
composition  and  staff,  and  an  increase  in  its  financial  envelop  from  EUR  60  000  to  EUR  1  million.  A 
technical report on the Committee’s future financing is also pending.  

176  This  may  include  the  possible  merging  of  the  two  draft  laws.  Information  received  in  the  context  of  the 

country visit to Italy from Parliamentary Committees. 

21 

 
 
register  to  help  ensure  that  political  party  and  campaign  finance  information  is  made 
available  in  a  coherent,  understandable,  and  timely  manner  is  still  lacking177.  Given  these 
developments,  there  has  been  no  further  progress  regarding  the  implementation  of  the 
recommendations made in the previous years. 

for 

Guidelines  on  procedures 
the  submission  and  management  of  external 
whistleblowing  reports  were  issued.  ANAC,  as  the  designated  external  reporting  channel 
for whistleblowers, issued new Guidelines on procedures for the submission and management 
of  whistleblowing  reports,  which  came  into  force  on  12  July  2023  through  Resolution  No. 
311178.  ANAC  also  plans  to  draw  up  guidelines  on  the  establishment  of  internal  reporting 
channels in the course of 2024 to address open questions on the interpretation of the rules179. 
In 2023, ANAC received 1 032 reports of breaches of the law compared to 348 in 2022 and 
534  in  2021180.  Of  these,  419  were  considered  inadmissible.  The  remaining  613  are  to  be 
investigated (investigations on 115 have started). 107 reports were received in January 2024, 
of  which  26  were  ineligible  and  archived  while  the  remaining  ones  are  being  assigned  to 
officials for preliminary investigation181. 

Risks of corruption in public procurement remain although the digitalisation of public 
contracts should improve transparency. The Flash Eurobarometer on Businesses’ attitudes 
towards corruption in the EU shows that 29% of companies in Italy (EU average 27%) think 
that  corruption  has  prevented  them  from  winning  a  public  tender  or  a  public  procurement 
contract  in  practice  in  the  last  three  years182.  Public  procurement  continues  to  be  seen  by 
many stakeholders183 as a sector prone to high risk of corruption while the large amounts of 

177  See 2023 Rule of Law  Report,  Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, pp. 16-17. GRECO’s 
Third  Evaluation  Round,  Second Addendum  to  the  Second  Compliance  Report  on  Italy  on  incriminations 
and  transparency  of  party  funding  (para.  37),  had  recommended  that  Italy  coordinate  the  approach for  the 
publication of information on party and campaign finance, ensure that the information is made available in a 
coherent,  comprehensible  and  timely  manner  and  provide  easier  and  meaningful  access  by  the  public, 
including by making best use of internet publishing. Transparency International Italy has consistently noted 
that  data  on  political  party  financing  are  incomplete  and  not  provided  in  an  open,  coherent  and  useable 
machine-readable format.  

178  The  Guidelines  aim  to  clarify  certain  aspects  of  Legislative  Decree  No.  24  of  10  March  2023  on 
whistleblower  protection  and  provide  some  guidance  that  public  and  private  entities  may  consider  when 
setting  up  their  own  internal  reporting  channels.  Written  contribution  from  ANAC  in  the  context  of  the 
country visit to Italy, pp. 4-5, and input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, pp. 23-26.  

179  From  4  to  22  December  2023, ANAC  launched  an  anonymous  survey  for  the  public  and  private  sectors 
required to activate  internal reporting channels within their administrations or entities to identify the main 
problems they face in implementing this obligation. Written contribution from ANAC in the context of the 
country visit to Italy, pp. 4-5, and input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, pp. 23-26. According to 
information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from Libera and Transparency International 
Italy,  potential  whistleblowers  may  not  come  forward  either  because  they  do  not  sufficiently  trust  internal 
reporting  channels  or  because  they  are  uncertain  about  the  relationship  between  the  external  and  internal 
reporting channels. At the same time, they consider the inclusion of the private sector in a positive light.  
180  According to ANAC, the low figures for 2021 and 2022 were mainly because of the pandemic. Information 

received in the context of the country visit to Italy.  

181  ANAC investigates cases falling within its competence while it forwards those falling outside its sphere of 
intervention  to  the  Public  Prosecutor's  Offices  or  to  the  competent  administrative Authorities. ANAC  also 
has  sanctioning  powers  and  may  impose  administrative  fines.  Input  from  Italy  for  the  2024  Rule  of  Law 
Report, pp. 24-25. 

182  Flash Eurobarometer 543 on Businesses’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU. This is 2 percentage points 

above the EU average. 

183  Information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from National Anti-mafia and Anti-terrorism 

22 

 
 
 
recovery  and  resilience  funds184  are  also  perceived  as  particularly  vulnerable  to  possible 
corrupt  practices  as  well  as  infiltration  from  organised  crime185.  The  digitalisation,  as  of  1 
January 2024186, of the entire lifecycle of all procurement or concession contracts, whatever 
their value, under the new Public Procurement Code187 should ensure more transparency of 
public  contracts  throughout  their  life  cycle,  therefore  making  it  easier  to  trace  supply 
chains188.  The  revision  to  the  NAP  by  ANAC  Resolution  No.  605  outlined  above  was  also 
made  specifically  to  strengthen  the  implementation  and  transparency  of  procurement 
procedures  and  mitigate  potential  risks  of  fraud  and  corruption  that  could  arise  from  the 
simplified procedures in the new procurement code189.  

III.  MEDIA PLURALISM AND MEDIA FREEDOM 

In  Italy,  the  freedom  of  the  press  and  freedom  of  expression  are  values  enshrined  and 
protected  in  the  Constitution190.  A  comprehensive  legal  framework  provides  for  media 
freedom  and  media  pluralism  safeguards,  while  the  Communication  Regulatory  Authority 
(AGCOM)  is  the  independent  regulator  for  the  media  sector.  The  Freedom  of  Information 
Act (FOI Act) grants citizens the right to access  documents and information held by public 
administration bodies191. 

Directorate,  Guardia  di  Finanza, ANAC,  Court  of Auditors,  Libera,  Transparency  International  Italy  and 
Openpolis.  According  to  the  National  Anti-mafia  and  Anti-terrorism  Directorate,  for  instance,  criminal 
organisations  have  been  drawn  to  the  use  of  the  RRP  funds  used  for  procurement  of  the  green  transition, 
major  infrastructural  works  and  services.  Other  stakeholders  identified  sham  consultancies,  false 
declarations,  artificial  splitting  of  large  value  contracts  into  smaller  value  ones  to  avoid  more  rigorous 
controls.  See  also  EPPO,  Press  release  of  4 April  2024,  Investigation  ‘Resilient  Crime’:  22  arrests  in  raid 
against  criminal  organisation  suspected  of  EUR  600  million  fraud  involving  NextGenerationEU  funds.  In 
May 2024, media reported widely about the investigations by the Guardia di Finanza and charges brought by 
the  Prosecutor’s  Office  of  Genoa  against  a  number  of  officials,  including  at  high-level,  and  entrepreneurs 
concerning  several  alleged  cases  of  corruption  in  the  granting  of  port  terminal  concessions  as  well  as 
electoral corruption. 

184  The Regional Public Prosecutor’s Offices of the Court of Auditors are currently investigating a number of 
cases  of  misuse  or  fraudulent  use  of  public  resources  and  other  irregularities  connected  to  the 
implementation of RRP projects. The damages resulting from these cases are yet to be precisely quantified, 
but the figure is expected to be significantly higher than the estimate of around EUR 1.8 million. In addition, 
in  2023,  the  regional  judicial  sections  of  the  Court  of Auditors  issued  decisions  to  pay  compensation  for 
fiscal damage in the area of public funds amounting to EUR 51.3 million. Written contribution from Court of 
Auditors in the context of the country visit to Italy, pp. 3-4.  

185  This was reported in previous years as well. See the 2022 Rule of Law Reports, Country Chapters on the rule 
of law situation in Italy, pp. 19-20 and p. 18 respectively. See also Chamber of Deputies, Doc. LXXIV n. 3, 
Report on the activities carried out and the results achieved by the Anti-Mafia Investigative Directorate (First 
Half of 2023) of 18 June 2024.  

186  This  is  part  of  the  M1C1-75  milestone  of  RRP.  The  publicly  accessible  National  Database  on  Public 
Contracts (Banca Dati Nazionale dei Contratti Pubblici), managed by ANAC, aggregates data from diverse 
databases and ensures a unified approach to accessibility, transparency, publicity, and traceability throughout 
the procurement process. 

187  Legislative Decree No. 36 of 31 March 2023.  
188  Input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 19. 
189  Information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from ANAC.  
190  Constitution of Italy, art. 21. Italy ranks 46th in the 2024 Reporters without Borders World Press Freedom 

Index compared to 41st in the previous year. 
191  Legislative Decree No. 97 of 25 May 2016. 

23 

 
 
The  media  regulator  continues  to  function  independently  and  effectively.  AGCOM 
oversees  electronic  communications,  audiovisual  media  services  and  postal  sectors192.  In 
2023,  AGCOM  has  been  entrusted  with  new  competences193,  which  include  further 
regulatory  powers  vis-à-vis  online  platforms,  having  been  designated  as  Digital  Service 
Coordinator under the Digital Services Act194. Under Italian law, AGCOM is also tasked with 
electoral  integrity  functions,  being  the  competent  authority  in  charge  of  monitoring  and 
ensuring the plurality, accuracy and impartiality of political communications and information 
in  the  press,  radio  and  audiovisual  media  services,  including  during  electoral  periods  (so 
called par condicio)195. A well-established legal framework ensures that AGCOM continues 
to be functionally autonomous and independent in the exercise of its regulatory competence, 
which  also 
includes  monitoring,  enforcement  and  sanctioning  powers  over  media 
providers196.  Since  2006,  a  self-financing  system  based  on  contributions  that  AGCOM 
collects from services operating in the sectors falling under its regulatory remit also ensures 
its financial stability and independence197. 

Public service media play a crucial role in the media landscape, and whereas  there are 
rules  in  place  aimed  at  ensuring  that  they  provide  independent  and  pluralistic 
information,  there  are  several  challenges  in  relation  to  their  governance  and  funding 
system. The public service broadcaster, RAI198 represents the source of news most frequently 
used by the Italian audience199 and is the first player both in the audiovisual sector, where it 
holds 37.9% audience shares on an average day, and in the radio sector, where it holds 23.1% 
market shares in terms of revenues200. The service contract, concluded between RAI and the 
Government, specifies the modalities for the fulfilment of RAI’s public service mission and 
requires  RAI  to  provide  an  independent,  impartial,  and  pluralistic  offering201.  However,  as 
mentioned  in  the  2023  Rule  of  Law  Report  and  MPM  2024,  the  effectiveness  of  the 
governance system202 in securing RAI’s full independence represents a long-standing source 

192  Law  No.  249  of  31  July  1997  on  the  establishment  of  Communication  Regulatory Authority  (AGCOM). 

Input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 28. 

193  In particular, AGCOM acquired new powers in the contrast to online piracy and on protection of minors in 
relation to online pornographic content, Law No. 93 of 14 July 2023. Law Decree No. 123 of 15 September 
2023, as confirmed by information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from AGCOM. 

194  Law Decree No. 123 of 15 September 2023. Media Pluralism Monitor 2024, country report for Italy, p. 17, 

as confirmed by information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from AGCOM. 

195  Law No. 28 of 22 February 2000, as confirmed by information received in the context of the country visit to 
Italy  from  AGCOM.  Most  notably,  AGCOM  is  entrusted  with  the  power  to  issue,  for  each  electoral  or 
referendum cycle, a tailored regulation setting out the specific measures to be taken by private media outlets 
to  ensure  the  provision  of  accurate  and  impartial  political  coverage  and  prevent  dissemination  of 
disinformation near elections.  

196  Law  No.  249  of  31  July  1997  on  the  establishment  of  Communication  Regulatory Authority  (AGCOM). 

Input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 29. 

197 Input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 29. 2024 Media Pluralism Monitor 2024, country report 
for  Italy,  p.  17,  as  confirmed  by  information  received  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy  from 
AGCOM. 

198  According to European Parliament’s Flash Eurobarometer: News & Media Survey 2023, 45% of respondents 

in Italy stated that they trust public TV and radio stations, below the EU average of 48%. 

199  Reuters Institute, Digital News Report Italy. 
200  Media Pluralism Monitor 2024, country report for Italy, p. 22.  
201  The  service  contract  2023-2028  requires  RAI  to  provide  quality  and  accurate  information  as  well  as  to 
develop tools and practices that can foster the contrast to disinformation. Written contribution from Ministry 
of Economy and Finances and Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy in the context to the country visit to 
Italy, pp. 4-6; Written contribution from RAI in the context to the country visit to Italy, pp. 6-7. 

202  RAI’s Board of Directors is made up of seven members elected for a three-year period renewable once. It 

24 

 
 
 
of  concern  in  Italy203.  In  this  regard,  stakeholders204  stress  the  need  of  a  comprehensive 
reform205  to  ensure  that  RAI  is  better  shielded  from  risks  of  political  interference206. 
Stakeholders also reported that following the appointment of the new RAI’s CEO and other 
top-level figures, including news programmes editors, there was an editorial shift which led 
to  the  resignation  of  several  journalists  and  presenters207.  Stakeholders  expressed  concerns 

carries  out  administrative  functions  and  ensures  that  the  aims  and  obligations  of  the  public  service 
broadcasting are fulfilled. Nomination of the candidates are made following a public selection process where 
any  person  fulfilling  the  relevant  criteria  set  out  in  the  law  may  submit  a  candidature.  Two  members  are 
elected  by  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  by  the  Senate  of  the  Republic  and  by  the  Council  of  Ministers 
respectively,  on  a  proposal  by  the  Minister  of  Economy  and  Finance. Another  member  is  appointed  from 
among the employees of RAI. The Board appoints its chairperson, but such appointment is dependent on the 
favourable  opinion  of  the  Parliamentary  Committee  for  the  General  Guidelines  and  Supervision  of 
Broadcasting  Services  (Commissione  parlamentare  per  l'indirizzo  generale  e  la  vigilanza  dei  servizi 
radiotelevisivi), Legislative Decree No. 208 of 8 November 2021, Article 63. Input from Italy for the 2024 
Rule of Law Report, pp. 32-33. Media Pluralism Monitor 2024, country report for Italy, p. 32. 

203  Media  Pluralism  Monitor  2024,  country  report  for  Italy,  pp.  32-33;  2023  Rule  of  Law  Report,  Country 
Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, pp. 19-20; Media Pluralism Monitor 2023, country report for 
Italy,  pp.  32-33,  and  41.  In  particular,  the  Media  Pluralism  Monitor  2024  considers  the  independence  of 
public service media at high risk, with a risk score of 71%,  due to the appointment of RAI’s management 
bodies being influenced by the Government and negotiations between the political parties in the Parliament, 
Media  Pluralism  Monitor  2024,  country  report  for  Italy,  pp.  32  and  42.  In  April  2024,  a  complaint  was 
lodged  before  the  Administrative  Tribunal  of  Lazio  on  the  incompatibility  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies’ 
appointment procedure of the members of RAI’s Board of Directors with the RAI’s governance rules and the 
Constitutional  Court  case  law.  See Articolo  21, Appeal  against  the  current  selection  criterion  for  the  Rai’s 
Board of Directors; Corriere della Sera, two appeals to the Tar to block the appointments of the new Board 
of Directors. 

204  Media  Pluralism  Monitor  2024,  country  report  for  Italy,  p.  42;  Written  contribution  from  Federazione 
Nazionale Stampa Italiana in the context to the country visit to Italy, pp. 4-5, as confirmed by information 
received  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy  from  Ordine  dei  giornalisti  and  Ossigeno  per 
l’Informazione.  

205  There are currently 10 legislative proposals concerning the reform of RAI’s governance and funding system 
that  have  presented  either  in the  Chamber  of  Deputies  or  the  Senate  of  the  Republic,  written  contribution 
from RAI in the context to the country visit to Italy, pp. 7-8; written contribution from Minister of Economy 
and Finances and Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy in the context to the country visit to Italy, pp. 2-
3. 

206  Risks  of  political  influence  stem  from  the  established  practice  of  re-organising  RAI’s  top-management 
positions based on the balance of political power emerging from electoral cycles; Media Pluralism Monitor 
2024, country report for Italy, pp. 32-33 and 42; Media Pluralism Monitor 2023, country report for Italy, p. 
32;  Contributions  from  Osservatorio  Balcani  Caucaso  Transeuropa/Centro  per 
la  Cooperazione 
Interrnazionale (pp. 17-18) and Civil Liberties Union for Europe on Italy (pp. 13-14) for the 2024 Rule of 
Law Report; Written contribution from Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana in the context to the country 
visit to Italy, pp. 4-5, as confirmed by information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from 
Ordine  dei  giornalisti  and  Ossigeno  per  l’Informazione.  Stakeholders  also  reported  on  cases  of  alleged 
undue political interference which took place over 2023 and led to the resignation of RAI’s CEO, before the 
conclusion of his mandate, Media Pluralism Monitor 2024, country report for Italy, p. 33.  

207  RAI’s programming was affected, with some shows cancelled and others migrated to private  broadcasters; 
Media  Pluralism  Monitor  2024,  country  report  for  Italy,  p.  33;  Contributions  from  Osservatorio  Balcani 
Caucaso Transeuropa/Centro per la Cooperazione Internazionale (pp. 17-18) and Civil Liberties Union for 
Europe on Italy (pp. 13-14) for the 2024 Rule of Law Report. In addition, stakeholders expressed concerns 
in relation to the summoning, by the Parliamentary Committee for the General Guidelines and Supervision 
of Broadcasting Services, of the presenter of a RAI’s investigative TV show whose investigative activities 
also  focused  on  political  figures.  Although  the  possibility  to  summon  journalists  falls  within  the 
Parliamentary Committee’s powers, stakeholders referred to the summon as unusual, since for the first time 
the Parliamentary Committee singled out an individual journalist for questioning, and expressed concerns for 
the  mocking  behaviour  shown  by  some  members  of  the  Committee  during  the  summoning,  which  they 
considered  as  an  illustration  of  undue  political  pressure,  European  Federation  of  Journalists,  Italy:  MFRR 

25 

 
 
 
regarding  the  new  rules  on  equal  airtime  (so  called  par  condicio)208,  applicable  to  political 
communications and information broadcasted on RAI during the 2024 European  Parliament 
elections, which would allow candidates with a role in the government to have more airtime 
and visibility in comparison to candidates from opposition parties209. On the other hand, the 
Government indicated that AGCOM’s monitoring activities would have ensured compliance 
with the par condicio rules and that there were no indications that they benefited candidates 
with  government  roles  over  other  candidates210.  Moreover,  concerns  were  expressed  on  the 
Government’s  decision,  adopted  with  the  Budget  Law  for  2024211,  to  reduce  the  RAI’s 
license  fee  and  offset  this  reduction  with  the  provision  of  additional  direct  funding  of 
EUR 430 million212.  Whereas  the  Government  explained  this  change  as  a  reallocation  of 
funding resources, implemented through a reduction of the component of the RAI’s licence 
fee linked to an increase of the component related to  transfers from  the general  taxation213, 
stakeholders considered that the licence fee reduction could affect RAI’s financial autonomy 
and viability by lowering the available resources that RAI can collect autonomously and that 
are needed to operate and fulfil its public service mission214. It is also considered that it risks 
affecting  the  predictability  of  the  overall  resources  for  RAI,  undermining  both  its  future 
financial planning ability and economic stability215. 

The  Government  has  been  working  on  a  rationalisation  of  the  system  of  financial 
contributions to the media sector. As in past years216, stakeholders voiced concerns on the 
deterioration  of  journalists’  working  conditions  and  the  overall  economic  distress  faced  by 

partners  condemn  summons  of  RAI  presenter  Sigfrido  Ranucci;  Contributions  from  Osservatorio  Balcani 
Caucaso Transeuropa/Centro per la Cooperazione Internazionale (pp. 17-18) and Civil Liberties Union for 
Europe on Italy (pp. 13-14) for the 2024 Rule of Law Report.  

208  The  rules  were  adopted  by  the  Parliamentary  Committee  for  the  General  Guidelines  and  Supervision  of 
Broadcasting Services,  which is tasked with the development of the  par condicio framework applicable in 
the public service media. In this capacity, the Parliamentary Committee can approve changes to the tailored 
regulations  adopted  by  AGCOM.  Such  changes  only  apply  to  public  service  media,  Media  Pluralism 
Monitor 2024, country report for Italy, pp. 30 and 33-34. See also footnote 195. 

209  In  particular,  the  concerns  focused  on  the  exemption  for  members  of  the  government  from  the  “par 
condicio”  rules  when  communicating  on  institutional  matters  and  the  risk  that  this  could  result  in  a 
possibility for the government to indirectly campaign in an unrestricted manner, Media Pluralism Monitor 
2024, country report for Italy, p. 33; Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana, Par Condicio, Usigrai and Cdr 
RaiNews:  ‘No  to  political  comities  on  the  Rai  newspapers  and  government  propaganda’;  European 
Federation of Journalists, Italy: Public service RAI becomes a “megaphone” of the government.  
210 Written contribution from the Italian Government in the context of the country visit to Italy, pp 5-6;  
211  Law No. 213 of 30 December 2023. 
212  Contributions from Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa/Centro per la Cooperazione Internazionale 
(p.  18)  and  Civil  Liberties  Union  for  Europe  on  Italy  (p.  14)  for  the  2024  Rule  of  Law  Report;  Written 
contribution from Minister of Economy and Finances and Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy (p. 6) 
and RAI (pp. 4-5) in the context to the country visit to Italy. 

213 Written contribution from the Italian Government in the context of the country visit to Italy, p 6. 
214  European  Federation  of  Journalists,  Italy:  EFJ  joins  FNSI  in  warning  about  the  independence  of  PSM. 
Contributions from Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa/Centro per la Cooperazione Internazionale 
(p.  18)  and  Civil  Liberties  Union  for  Europe  on  Italy  (p.  14)  for  the  2024  Rule  of  Law  Report.  Media 
Pluralism Monitor 2024, country report for Italy, p. 34. 

215  Written  contribution  from  RAI  in  the  context  to  the  country  visit  to  Italy,  pp.  4-5,  as  confirmed  by 
information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from Ordine dei giornalisti and Ossigeno per 
l’Informazione. 

216  2023 Rule of Law  Report,  Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 23; 2022 Rule of Law 

Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 23. 

26 

 
 
the  media  sector  in  Italy217.  To  support  the  media  sector  and  counteract  the  employment 
crisis,  the  Government  established  the  Single  Fund  for  Pluralism  and  Digital  Innovation  in 
Information and Publishing (the Fund)218. The Fund aims to restructure and streamline all the 
existing  ordinary219  and  extraordinary220  public  contributions,  by  channeling  them  into  one 
permanent fund which will function as a single tool for the distribution of all the financial aid 
to  the  media  sector221.  Moreover,  the  Government  has  also  provided  that  a  quota,  not 
exceeding 5% of the Fund, is allocated each year to counteract employment crisis situations 
in companies operating in the information and publishing sector222. Stakeholders considered 
these  measures  to  be  necessary  but  not  sufficient,  emphasising  the  need  for  more 
comprehensive and forward-looking public strategies and actions that could foster resilience, 
sustainability, and competitiveness of the media industry223. 

There  have  been  no  new  developments  with  respect  to  the  rules  on  transparency  of 
media  ownership.  Pursuant  to  the  relevant  rules  in  place,  all  press,  radio,  and  audiovisual 
media  outlets,  as  well  as  search  engines  and  online  intermediation  services  are  required  to 
register in the Register of Communication Operators (ROC)224 – managed by AGCOM – and 
disclose  information  on  their  ownership  structures225.  Under  Italian  law,  AGCOM  is 

217  Media  Pluralism  Monitor  2024,  country  report  for  Italy,  p.  15;  Written  contribution  from  Federazione 
Nazionale  Stampa  Italiana  in  the  context  to  the  country  visit  to  Italy,  p.  5,  as  confirmed  by  information 
received  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy  from  Ordine  dei  giornalisti  and  Ossigeno  per 
l’Informazione. 

218  Input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 29; Media Pluralism Monitor 2024, country report for 
Italy,  p.  31,  as  confirmed  by  information  received  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy  from  the 
Presidency of the Council of Ministers. 

219  In  2016,  the  Government  established  the  Fund  for  pluralism  of  information  aimed  at  supporting  the 
publishing  as  well  as  the  radio  and TV  sectors The  resources  allocated  to  such  fund  in 2023 amounted  to 
around EUR 159 million, 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 
21; Media Pluralism Monitor 2023, country report for Italy, p. 30. 

220  In  2022,  the  Government  established  an  extraordinary  fund  to  sustain  employment  levels  and  foster  the 
digital transition in the media sector. The resources allocated to this extraordinary fund in 2023 amounted to 
EUR  140  million,  2023  Rule  of  Law  Report,  Country  Chapter  on  the rule  of  law  situation  in  Italy,  p. 21; 
Media Pluralism Monitor 2023, country report for Italy, p. 31. 

221  Most  notably,  measures  that  could  be  adopted  through  the  Fund  include  incentives  for  the  recruitment  of 
young journalists and media professionals with digital and cybersecurity skills, incentives for the hiring of 
journalists left jobless following media outlets restructuring, as well as incentives for investments in media 
and digital innovation, input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 29, as confirmed by information 
received in the context of the country visit to Italy from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. 

222  Media  Pluralism  Monitor  2024,  country  report  for  Italy,  p.  31.  Written  contribution  from  Federazione 
Nazionale  Stampa  Italiana  in  the  context  to  the  country  visit  to  Italy,  p.  5,  as  confirmed  by  information 
received in the context of the country visit to Italy from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. 

223  Written contribution from Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana in the context to the country visit to Italy, 
p.  5,  as  confirmed  by  information  received  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy  from  Ordine  dei 
giornalisti  and Ossigeno per l’Informazione. The 2024 Media Pluralism Monitor also referred to issues of 
the system which are related for example to the lack of criteria taking into account pluralism at local level 
for the distribution of subsidies aimed at protecting linguistic minorities or the lack of effective control over 
the use of the allocated resources, Media Pluralism Monitor 2024, country report for Italy, p. 31. 

224  Law No. 249 of 31 July 1997 and AGCOM Resolution n. 666/08/CONS  – Regulation for the organization 

and maintenance of the Register of communications operators.  

225  Legislative Decree No. 208 of 8 November 2021, art. 29, and Law No. 249 of 31 July 1997, art. 1(5); input 
from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 37. However, the information publicly available only includes 
the name, address, field of activity and the ROC number of the relevant registered services, while access to 
further  details  on  media  ownership,  including  information  that  could  enable  to  identify  beneficial  owners, 
may only be obtained by submitting a formal request to AGCOM, Media Pluralism Monitor 2023, country 

27 

 
 
 
competent for the assessment of media market concentrations and can adopt measures to stop 
those concentrations that may result in the formation of positions of significant market power 
that are detrimental to media pluralism226. In this context, AGCOM has been preparing a set 
of guidelines –  currently under public consultation  – on the methodology  and criteria to  be 
taken into account for the assessment of positions of significant market power detrimental to 
media pluralism227. 

Legislative  initiatives  regulating  the  access  to,  and  publication  of  certain  judicial 
information, are a source of concern for journalists. The general framework regulating the 
right  to  access  information  held  by  public  administration  bodies  set  out  in  the  FOI  Act 
remains  unchanged228.  Two  legislative  initiatives,  the  so-called  ‘Nordio’s  reform’229  and 
‘Costa  amendment’230,  were  put  forward  to  regulate  the  possibility  to  publish  certain 
categories  of  judicial  documents231.  The  Government  considered  these  initiatives  to  be 
justified  to  guarantee  the  right  to  privacy,  the  respect  for  the  confidentiality  of 
correspondence and communications, and the presumption of innocence232. The Government 
also  considered  that  these  initiatives  would  not  affect  the  freedom  of  the  press  nor  the 
freedom of information since, in the case of the Nordio’s reform, the limitation would only 
apply  to  information  not  acquired  in  the  course  of  the  criminal  proceedings  in  accordance 
with the relevant provisions of the code of criminal procedure, while, in the case of the Costa 
amendment,  the  prohibition  of  publication  would  be  temporally  limited  to  the  phase  of 
preliminary investigations, and would not prevent in any case journalists from paraphrasing 
or summarizing the content of the pre-trial custody orders233. However, several stakeholders 
considered  these  measures  to  amount  to  a  restriction  of  the  freedom  of  the  press,  as  they 
would affect court reporting and the citizens’ right to be informed234. Stakeholders also raised 

report for Italy, p. 21; Media Pluralism Monitor 2024, country report for Italy, pp. 9 and 20-21. 

226  Legislative Decree No. 208 of 8 November 2021, art. 51; input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, 
pp. 35-36, as confirmed by information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from AGCOM. 
227  AGCOM,  Resolution  94/23/CONS;  Media  Pluralism  Monitor  2024,  country  report  for  Italy,  p.  8,  as 

confirmed by information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from AGCOM. 

228  Legislative Decree No. 97 of 25 May 2016. The FOI Act aims to foster transparency in the relations between 
civil  society  and  public  institutions.  To  this  end,  it  provides  for  a  general  civic  access  to  public 
administration’s  data  and  documents  that  are  relevant  to  public  and  private  interests  and  delineates  the 
grounds, such as national security, public security or protection of personal data, where public administration 
bodies can reject a request of access after providing a duly substantiated justification. 

229  This  legislative  initiative,  initiated  by  the  Government  and  currently  under  discussion  in  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies after the approval by the Senate of the Republic, aims to prohibit the full or partial publication of 
the content of wiretaps that have not been used in a judicial proceeding (draft law A.S. 808 – see above), as 
confirmed by information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from the Ministry of Justice.  
230  This legislative initiative, adopted by the Parliament, delegates the Government to adopt measures aimed at 
forbidding the publication of all or part of the text of pre-trial custody orders until the end of the preliminary 
investigations, Amendment n. 3.01000 to the European Delegation Law 2023, as confirmed by information 
received in the context of the country visit to Italy from the Ministry of Justice. 

231  Contributions from Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa/Centro per la Cooperazione Internazionale 
(pp. 20-21) and Civil Liberties Union for Europe on Italy (p. 18) for the 2024 Rule of Law Report; Written 
contribution  from  Federazione  Nazionale  Stampa  Italiana  in  the  context  to  the  country  visit  to  Italy,  as 
confirmed by information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from Ordine dei giornalisti and 
Ossigeno per l’Informazione.  

232  Information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from the Ministry of Justice.  
233  Information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from the Ministry of Justice. 
234  Most  notably,  stakeholders  stressed  that  Nordio’s  reform  ultimately  restricts  the  right  of  citizens  to  be 
informed  about  facts  emerging  from  wiretaps  that,  although  they  do  not  constitute  a  crime  and  are  not 
judicially  relevant,  are  still  a  matter  of  general  public  interest.  Contribution  from  Osservatorio  Balcani 

28 

 
 
 
concerns in relation to the measures envisaged by the Costa amendment, pointing to the risk 
of  it  generating  a  chilling  effect  on  journalists,  who  risk  being  more  exposed  to  possible 
defamation  lawsuits  in  case  of  incorrect  summaries  or  reformulations  of  pre-trial  custody 
orders 235. 

Despite specific rules being in place with a focus on the protection of journalists in case 
of threats against them, journalists continue to face several challenges in the exercise of 
their  profession.  Cases  of  physical  attacks,  death  threats  and  other  forms  of  intimidations 
have been reported, which continue to raise concerns on the safety of journalists in Italy236. 
Since  the  2023  Rule  of  Law  Report,  seven  alerts  concerning  Italy  where  registered  by  the 
Council  of  Europe’s  Platform  to  promote  the  protection  of  journalism  and  safety  of 
journalists, four of which related to cases of physical attacks on journalists and three related 
to cases of harassment and intimidation of journalists 237, while the Mapping Media Freedom 
platform reported 75 incidents in the first six months of 2024, 47 of which related to different 
forms  of  attacks  on  journalists  and  13  related  to  cases  of  legal  incidents  involving 
journalists238.  The  latest  available  data  of  the  Italian  Coordination  Centre239  show  that,  in 
2023, the police registered 98 cases of intimidations240. Although these data show a decrease 
in  cases  compared  to  2022,  stakeholders  pointed  out  that  journalists  do  not  always  report 
cases of attacks or intimidation  to  the police241. In  their view, this  reality,  coupled with  the 

Caucaso Transeuropa/Centro per la Cooperazione Internazionale (pp. 20-21) and Civil Liberties Union for 
Europe on Italy (p. 18) for the 2024 Rule of Law Report; Written contribution from  Federazione Nazionale 
Stampa Italiana in the context to the country visit to Italy, pp. 1-3. Media Pluralism Monitor 2024, country 
report for Italy, pp. 13-14, as confirmed by information received in the context of the country visit to Italy 
from Ordine dei giornalisti and Ossigeno per l’Informazione. 

235  Written contribution from Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana in the context to the country visit to Italy 
(pp. 1-2), as confirmed by information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from  Ordine dei 
giornalisti and Ossigeno per l’Informazione. The Media Pluralism Monitor 2024, country report for Italy (p. 
13), reports a medium risk of 42% in relation to the protection of the right of information, also due to the 
envisaged restrictions on journalists to access certain judicial information. 

236  In  2023,  250  journalists  have  been  under  police  protection  while  round-the-clock  police  escort  has  been 
provided to 22 journalists, Ordine dei Giornalisti, ‘Threats, over 250 journalists under escort’. The national 
legislation provides for a specific protection protocols system which involves police and judicial authorities 
and  allows  to  adopt  specific  protection  measures  varying  according  to  the  level  of  threats  to  which 
journalists  are  exposed.  These  measures  range  from  providing  an  armoured  car  to  round-the-clock  police 
escort.  Input  from  Italy  for  the  2024  Rule  of  Law  Report, p.  38.  In  May  2024,  the  Media  Freedom  Rapid 
Response consortium organized an urgent mission to Rome  to raise awareness of media freedom issues in 
Italy, Media Freedom Rapid Response (2024), MFRR to conduct a mission to Italy amid worsening state of 
media freedom in the country. 

237  Council of Europe, Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists, Italy. 
238  In particular, out of 47 incidents related to different forms of attacks on journalists six incidents related to 
cases of physical attacks, 14 incidents related to cases of attacks to property, and 27 related to cases of verbal 
attacks.  The  other  incidents  related  to  15  cases  of  censorship,  Mapping  Media  Freedom,  Italy  country 
profile. 

239  The  Coordination  Centre  is  managed  by  the  Italian  Ministry  of  Interior. Through  the  Centre,  the  Ministry 
monitors, in collaboration with the police, cases of physical attacks and other threats against journalists. The 
data are collected on the basis of the complaints filed by journalists to the police authorities, and categorised 
according  to  several  criteria, including  location,  gender  of the  victim,  and  typology  of  incident,  Centro  di 
coordinamento sul fenomeno degli atti intimidatori nei confronti dei giornalisti, Centro di coordinamento sul 
fenomeno degli atti intimidatori nei confronti dei giornalisti | Ministero dell‘Interno. 

240  Of these cases, 12,2% concerned organised crime and 40,8% were of ‘political-social nature’, while 30 out 
of 98 cases (30,6%) occurred online, Department of Public Security, Acts of intimidation against journalists 
– 2023. 

241  Contributions from Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa/Centro per la Cooperazione Interrnazionale 

29 

 
 
 
fact  that  the  Coordination  Centre  does  not  monitor  SLAPPs  cases,  could  lead  to 
underreporting  issues242.  While  acknowledging  the  positive  impact  of  the  Coordination 
Centre  in  improving  the  relationship  between  media  professionals  and  public  authorities, 
stakeholders243  also  advocated  for  its  enhancement  to  make  it  fully  independent  from  the 
Government  and  capable  of  monitoring  SLAPPs  cases.  Most  notably,  on  SLAPPs  cases244, 
stakeholders245 signaled an increase in the number of cases of legal intimidations, including 
from political figures, as also shown by the monitoring activity carried out by civil society246, 
according to which the abusive lawsuits represented 34% of the overall registered and fact-
checked cases of threats to the safety of journalists in 2023247. 

There has been no further progress on the reform of the defamation regime.  The 2023 
Rule of Law Report recommended to Italy to ‘continue the legislative process to reform and 
introduce safeguards for the regime on defamation, the protection of professional secrecy and 
journalistic  sources,  taking  into  account  the  European  standards  on  the  protection  of 
journalists’248. As previously reported, a legislative proposal to reform the press defamation 
regime was presented to the Senate of the Republic249. Since then, there has been no further 
progress and this legislative proposal is still under examination by the Senate250. Stakeholders 
welcomed the proposal to formally abolish the penalty of imprisonment for press defamation, 
in  line  with  the  Constitutional  Court’s  jurisprudence251,  and  to  extend  the  protection  of 
professional  secrecy  and  journalistic  sources  to  non-professional  journalists252.  However, 

(pp.  19-20)  and  Civil  Liberties  Union  for  Europe  on  Italy  (p.  15)  for  the  2024  Rule  of  Law  Report,  as 
confirmed by information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from Ordine dei giornalisti and 
Ossigeno per l’Informazione. 

242  Ibidem. 
243  Ibidem. 
244  The  Media  Pluralism  Monitor  2024  reported  an  increase  of  the  risk  indicator  for  journalists’  protection, 
which  has  risen  to  58%  from  54%  in  the  previous  year.  This  increase  is  also  due  to  SLAPPs  trends  and 
online threats which affect journalists’ safety, Media Pluralism Monitor 2024, country report for Italy, pp. 9, 
12-13, and 15-17. 

245  Contributions from Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa/Centro per la Cooperazione Interrnazionale 
(pp. 21-22), Civil Liberties Union for Europe on Italy (pp. 16-17) and Committee to Protect Journalists (p. 
17)  for  the  2024  Rule of  Law  Report,  as  confirmed by  information  received  in  the  context  of  the  country 
visit to Italy from Ordine dei giornalisti and Ossigeno per l’Informazione. 

246  Since 2007, Ossigeno per l’Informazione runs the Ossigeno Observatory, through which it collects, analyses 
and report cases concerning five different categories of threats against media professionals, namely physical 
assaults,  damages,  intimidations,  legal  actions,  and  obstruction  to  access  to  information. All  the  reported 
cases and data collected are scrutinized and verified by Ossigeno per l’Informazione, which also discloses all 
the names of the media professionals concerned by the verified cases, information received in the context of 
the country visit to Italy from Ordine dei giornalisti and Ossigeno per l’Informazione. Further information is 
available on the ‘Ossigeno per l’Informazione website’: https://www.ossigeno.info/.  

247  Ossigeno per l’Informazione reported that out of a total of 319 certified cases of threats against journalists, 
108  consisted  of  abusive  court  proceedings,  Ossigeno  per  l’Informazione  (2023),  ‘Seventy  thousand 
journalists threatened since 2006 in Italy’.  

248  2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 2. 
249  In particular, the aim of the legislative proposal (A.S. 466) was to respond to the call made to the Parliament 
by  the  Constitutional  Court  to  address  the  unconstitutionality  and  incompatibility  with  the  European 
Convention of Human Rights of the press defamation rules,  2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on 
the rule of law situation in Italy, pp. 23-24. 

250  See Senate’s website: https://www.senato.it/leg/19/BGT/Schede/Ddliter/comm/56433_comm.htm.  
251  Constitutional Court, Judgements No. 132 of 9 June 2020 and No. 150 of 22 June 2021. 
252  Contributions from Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa/Centro per la Cooperazione Internazionale 
(pp.  15-16)  and  Civil  Liberties  Union  for  Europe  on  Italy  (p.  19)  for  the  2024  Rule  of  Law  Report,  as 

30 

 
 
 
they also voiced concerns on other aspects of the proposed reform related to criminal253 and 
disciplinary254 penalties for press defamation, the introduction of an obligation of automatic 
rectification255, and the defamation  lawsuits’ jurisdictional  criteria256, considering that these 
elements  risk  triggering  a  chilling  effect  on  the  media  freedom  and  the  freedom  of 
expression257.  Given  that  the  legislative  proposal  has  not  yet  been  approved  by  either 
Chamber  of  the  Parliament,  there  has  been  no  further  progress  on  implementing  the 
recommendation made in the 2023 Rule of Law Report. 

IV.  OTHER INSTITUTIONAL ISSUES RELATED TO CHECKS AND BALANCES 

Italy  is  a  unitary  parliamentary  republic  with  an  indirectly  elected  President258.  The 
Parliament  is  bicameral:  it  comprises  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  and  the  Senate  of  the 
Republic,  both  having  the  same  powers.  The  right  of  legislative  initiative  is  vested  in  the 
Government,  the  members  of  Parliament,  50 000  citizens,  the  National  Council  for 
Economics and Labour259, and the Regional Council. The Constitutional Court has exclusive 
jurisdiction  over  disputes  regarding  the  constitutionality  of  laws.  There  is  currently  no 

confirmed by information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from Ordine dei giornalisti and 
Ossigeno per l’Informazione. 

253  A.S.  466,  art.  1(e).  In  particular,  stakeholders  considered  the  increase  of  the  criminal  penalties  for  press 
defamation, which can reach a maximum of EUR 50 000, as particularly damaging for small publishers and 
freelance journalists. They also  pointed out that such high fines would also foster the abuse of defamation 
litigation  for  intimidation  purposes.  Contribution  from  Osservatorio  Balcani  Caucaso  Transeuropa/Centro 
per la Cooperazione Internazionale (pp. 15-16) and Civil Liberties Union for Europe on Italy (p. 19) for the 
2024 Rule of Law Report, as confirmed by information received in the context of the country visit to Italy 
from Ordine dei giornalisti and Ossigeno per l’Informazione. 

254  A.S. 466, art. 1(e). In this respect, stakeholders voiced concerns with respect to the potential deterrent effect 
on  press  freedom  and  freedom  of  expression  stemming  from  the  envisaged  possibility  to  disqualify 
journalists found guilty of defamation from practicing the profession for up to six months. Contribution from 
Osservatorio  Balcani  Caucaso  Transeuropa/Centro  per  la  Cooperazione  Interrnazionale  (pp.  15-16)  and 
Civil  Liberties  Union  for  Europe  on  Italy  (p.  19)  for  the  2024  Rule  of  Law  Report,  as  confirmed  by 
information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from Ordine dei giornalisti and Ossigeno per 
l’Informazione. 

255  A.S.  n.  466,  art.  1(e).  In  particular,  stakeholders  considered  the  introduction  of  an obligation  of  automatic 
rectification, without the editors or the journalists being able to add comments or reply, to potentially shrink 
the  space  for  press  freedom.  Contribution  from  Osservatorio  Balcani  Caucaso  Transeuropa/Centro  per  la 
Cooperazione Interrnazionale (pp. 15-16) and Civil Liberties Union for Europe on Italy (p. 19) for the 2024 
Rule of Law Report. Written contribution from Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana in the context to the 
country visit to Italy, p. 3, as confirmed by information received in the context of the country visit to Italy 
from Ordine dei giornalisti and Ossigeno per l’Informazione. 

256  A.S.  466,  art.  1(f).  In  particular,  stakeholders  stressed  that  the  identification  of  the  judge  of  the  place  of 
residence of the plaintiffs as the competent judge for defamation lawsuits, instead of the judge of the place 
where  the  alleged  defamation  has  been  committed,  would  increase  the  economic  burden,  in  terms  of 
increased  litigation  costs  for  publishers  and  journalists,  as  they  would  be  forced  into  a  ‘court  tour’  across 
Italy in order to attend lawsuits trials. Written contribution from  Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana in 
the  context  to  the  country  visit  to  Italy,  p.  3,  as  confirmed  by  information  received  in  the  context  of  the 
country visit to Italy from Ordine dei giornalisti and Ossigeno per l’Informazione. 

257  Contributions from Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa/Centro per la Cooperazione Internazionale 
(pp. 15-16) and Civil Liberties Union for Europe on Italy (p. 19) for the 2024 Rule of Law Report. Written 
contribution from Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana in the context to the country visit to Italy, p. 3, as 
confirmed by information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from Ordine dei giornalisti and 
Ossigeno per l’Informazione. 

258  The President is elected by Parliament, meeting in joint session, together with 58 regional electors. 
259  The National Council for Economics and Labour is also vested with the right to propose legislation in the 

economic and social field. 

31 

 
 
national  human  rights  institution,  and  several  regional  ombudspersons  are  responsible  for 
safeguarding  the  freedoms  and  rights  of  persons260.  The  Inter-ministerial  Committee  for 
Human Rights (CIDU) is  the coordinating national  institution  interacting with  civil  society, 
academia,  and  all  relevant  stakeholders  to  ensure  reporting  and  follow-up  on  human  rights 
issues. 

The  Government  has  submitted  to  Parliament  a  draft  constitutional  reform,  with  the 
objective  of  ensuring  greater  stability  of  government.  On  15  November  2023,  the 
Government submitted to Parliament a draft constitutional reform, aiming at ensuring greater 
stability  of the  Italian government261. The draft reform has been approved  by the Senate of 
the Republic on 18 June 2024 and transmitted to the Chamber of Deputies262. It envisages a 
new procedure for selecting the Prime Minister, who would be elected by universal suffrage 
in  a  popular  vote  concurrent  with  Parliamentary  elections263.  Following  the  elections,  the 
President of the Republic would be required to give the winning candidate a mandate to form 
the  government264.  The  draft  reform  also  provides  a  detailed  regulation  in  case  of  a 
government  crisis,  i.e.,  the  government  falls  before  the  end  of  the  five-year  term  of  the 
legislature265. In such a case, the President of the Republic would have three options: to give 
a  new  mandate  to  form  the  government  to  the  outgoing  Prime  Minister;  to  appoint  a  new 
Prime Minister, provided that he/she is a member of Parliament and belongs to the same party 
or coalition of the outgoing Prime Minister; or to dissolve Parliament if neither the first Prime 
Minister nor the second Prime Minister gain the confidence of the Parliament (the formation 
of  a  third  government  would  not  be  allowed).  With  this  reform,  it  would  no  longer  be 
possible for the President of the Republic to find an alternative majority and/or to appoint a 
person outside Parliament as Prime Minister266. Some stakeholders expressed concerns at the 

260  For more information, see Ombudsman of Tuscany website (http://www.difensorecivicotoscana.it).  
261  In the 76 years of republican history, Italy has had 32 Prime Ministers and 68 governments, with an average 
time  in  office  of  approx.  14  months  (written  contribution  from  Presidency  of  the  Council  of  Ministers  – 
Department for Institutional Reforms in the context of the country visit to Italy, p. 7). 

262  Draft  Law A.C.  1921, Amendments  to  Part Two  of  the  Constitution  to  introduce  the direct  election  of  the 
President of the Council of Ministers, strengthen the stability of governments and to abolish the power of the 
President of the Republic to appoint senators for life. 

263  By voting for a party or coalition, the voters would automatically vote for its candidate Prime Minister, who 
must  be  a  member  of  Parliament.  As  of  today,  the  Prime  Minister  could  even  be  a  person  from  outside 
Parliament, as it happened several times in the past. 

264  As of today, the President of the Republic has the  power to choose the Prime Minister on the basis of the 
indications  provided  by  the  political  parties  during  post-elections  consultations;  the  Prime  Minister 
appointed by the President of the Republic must then have the confidence of the Parliament. 

265  A  regulation  of  government  crises  is  missing  in  the  Constitution  of  Italy  (written  contribution  from 
Presidency of the Council of Ministers – Department for Institutional Reforms in the context of the country 
visit to Italy, p. 7). 

266  Since 1993, Italy has had six Prime Ministers who were not members of the Parliament. The Reform would 
also  repeal  art.  59(2)  of  the  Constitution  of  Italy,  according  to  which  the  President  of  the  Republic  ‘may 
appoint  five  citizens  who  have  honoured  the  Nation  through  their  outstanding  achievements  in  the  social, 
scientific,  artistic  and  literary  fields  as  senators  for  life’.  Moreover,  it  modifies  the  threshold  of  for  the 
election  of  the  President  of  the  Republic  by  Parliament  in  joint  session  (with  the  participation  of 
representatives  of  the  Regions). As  of  today,  to  be  elected  President  of  the  Republic,  a  majority  of  2/3  of 
Parliament or, after the third vote session, an absolute majority (50%+1) must be reached. The reform would 
require that a majority of 2/3 of Parliament be reached until the sixth vote session (absolute majority would 
suffice only from the seventh vote session). 

32 

 
 
proposed  changes  to  the  current  system  of  institutional  checks-and-balances267,  as  well  as 
doubts that as to whether it would bring more stability268. 

Stakeholders  have  raised  concerns  that  law  decrees  are  used  too  often  by  the 
Government.  Pursuant  to  Article  77  of  the  Constitution  of  Italy,  in  case  of  necessity  and 
urgency, the government may adopt law decrees, namely temporary acts having the force of 
law, which come into force upon publication in the Official Gazette (or the following day). 
Law decrees must be converted into law by both Chambers of the Parliament within 60 days 
of their publication, under penalty of forfeiture. Stakeholders underlined that the use of law 
decrees by governments (not only the Government in office) has increased in the last decades 
and has excessively intensified in the last years269. According to official data270, in the current 
legislature (started on October 2022), the Government has adopted 59 law decrees; of these, 
51 have been converted into law, while seven have not been converted, but their content has 
been  included  in  other  laws.  This  amounts  to  approximately  50 %  of  laws  adopted  by  the 
Parliament.  The  frequent  use  of  law  decrees  by  governments  could  affect  the  balance  of 
powers  between  the  government  (as  the  executive  power)  and  the  Parliament  (as  the 
legislative power)271. 

On 1 January 2024, Italy had 66 leading judgments of the European Court of Human 
Rights pending implementation, an increase of seven compared to the previous year272. 
At that time, Italy’s rate of leading judgments from the past 10 years that remained pending 
was  at  65%  (compared  to  63%  in  2023)  and  the  average  time  that  the  judgments  had  been 
pending  implementation  was  6  years  and  7  months  (compared  to  6  years  and  2  months  in 
2023)273. The oldest leading judgment, pending for 26 years, concerns the excessive length of 

267  In the context of the country visit to Italy, the Italian Association of Constitutionalists explained that the role 
of the President of the Republic would be weakened compared to the current institutional set-up, especially 
with  regard  to  the  management  of  government  crises.  Concerns  on  the  impact  of  the  draft  reform  on  the 
system  of  checks-and-balances  have  been  expressed  also  by  members  of  the  ruling  majority  during  the 
parliamentary debate. The concerns are also based on the fact that the draft reform leaves the definition of 
certain  key  aspects  linked  to  the  reform  (e.g.  the  electoral  law)  to  ordinary  legislation,  whose  text  or 
underlying principles have not published. 

268  Information received in the context of the country visit to Italy from Italian Association of Constitutionalists. 
269  Information  received  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy  from  Emergency,  COSPE,  Amnesty 
International  Italy,  Unione  Forense  per  la  Tutela  dei  Diritti  Umani,  and  The  Good  Lobby.  See  also 
contribution  from  Amnesty  International  Italy  for  the  2024  Rule  of  Law  Report,  pp.  19-20.  Written 
contribution from Emergency (p. 1) and European Civic Forum (p. 11) in the context to the country visit to 
Italy. In the context of the country visit to Italy, the Italian Association of Constitutionalists highlighted that 
for  years  law  decree  has  become  an  instrument  of  ordinary  legislation,  and  this  is  also  attributable  to  the 
limited powers governments have to enforce political direction. 

270  Chamber of Deputies, Lawmaking: figures and characteristics – figures updated to 13 May 2024. 
271  See Constitutional Court, Judgement No. 171 of 23 May 2007. It is worth noting that  18% of the surveyed 
companies perceive the frequent changes in legislation or concerns about quality of law-making process as a 
reason for the lack of confidence in investment protection. Figure 56, 2024 EU Justice Scoreboard.  

272  The  adoption of necessary execution measures for a  judgment by the European Court of Human Rights is 
supervised by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. It is the Committee’s practice to group 
cases against a State requiring similar execution measures, particularly general measures, and examine them 
jointly. The first case in the group is designated as the leading case as regards the supervision of the general 
measures and repetitive cases within the group can be closed when it is assessed that all possible individual 
measures needed to provide redress to the applicant have been taken. 

273  All figures are calculated by the European Implementation Network and are based on the number of cases 
that  are  considered  pending  at  the  annual  cut-off  date  of  1  January  2024.  See  contribution  from  European 
Implementation Network for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 5. 

33 

 
 
criminal and administrative proceedings274. As regards the respect of payment deadlines, on 
31  December  2023  there  were  136  cases  in  total  awaiting  confirmation  of  payments 
(compared  to  72  in  2022)275.  On  1  July  2024,  the  number  of  leading  judgments  pending 
implementation had increased to 71276. 

There  has  been  no  further  progress  on  establishing  a  National  Human  Rights 
Institution.  The  2023  Rule  of  Law  Report  recommended  to  Italy  to  ‘[c]ontinue  efforts  to 
establish a National Human Rights Institution taking into account the UN Paris Principles’277. 
As in previous years, while four draft laws are being tabled at the Parliament278, there are still 
no further concrete actions taken to establish a National Human Rights Institution in practice, 
which  was  also  confirmed  by  stakeholders279.  Thus,  no  further  progress  has  been  made  to 
implement the recommendation made in the 2023 Rule of Law Report. 

Challenges remain as regards the civic space, also in light of reported verbal attacks on 
organisations  involved  in  humanitarian  activities  and  of  reported  violence  against 
demonstrators.  The  civic  space  continues  to  be  assessed  as  ‘narrowed’280.  Stakeholders 
reported verbal attacks by some media and politicians against organisations, especially those 
carrying  out  humanitarian  activities281,  and  episodes  of  violence  against  demonstrators  by 
police282.  There  have  been  no  significant  updates  with  regard  to  ex  post  evaluations  and 
public  consultation  processes,  which  –  as  reported  in  2023  Rule  of  Law  Report  –  are  not 
systematically  carried  out283.  In  July  2023,  the  National  Hub  for  Public  Participation  was 
launched. It is a platform aimed at boosting and collecting public participation policies, and 
shares  relevant  practices,  pathways,  and  tools  at  the  national  and  international  level284.  The 

274  European Court of Human Rights, Judgement of 2 September 1997,  Abenavoli v. Italy, 24487/94, pending 

implementation since 1997. 

275  Council  of  Europe  (2024),  Supervision  of  the  execution  of  judgments  decisions  of  the  European  Court  of 

Human Rights – 17th Annual Report of the Committee of Ministers – 2023, p. 137.  

276  Data according to the online database of the Council of Europe (HUDOC). 
277  See 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 2. 
278  Draft laws A.S. 303, A.C. 426, A.S. 505 and A.C. 580 (see Annex I). See 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country 

Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, p. 27. 

279  Information received  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to Italy  from  Parliamentary  Committees, Amnesty 
International  Italy  and  Unione  Forense  per  la  Tutela  dei  Diritti  Umani;  Contribution  from  Amnesty 
International Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 20; Written contribution from European Civic Forum 
in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy,  p.  11.  The  Italian  authorities  considered  that  the  Italian  legal 
system  would  provide  full,  effective  and  independent  protection  of  human  rights  by  ordinary  courts,  an 
Interministerial Committee for Human Rights and an Office for the Promotion of Equal Treatment. 

280  See  the  rating  given  by  CIVICUS.  Ratings  are  on  a  five-category  scale  defined  as:  open,  narrowed, 

obstructed, repressed and closed. 

281  Information  received  in  the  context  of  the  country  visit  to  Italy  from Amnesty  International  Italy,  Unione 
Forense  per  la  Tutela  dei  Diritti  Umani,  Emergency  and  COSPE.  See  also  written  contribution  from 
Emergency  in  the  context  to  the  country  visit  to  Italy,  p.  4.  In  particular,  public  statements  by  politicians 
contesting financing methods of the organisations and lawfulness of their rescue activities were reported. 
282  For example, on 23 February 2024, student marches were blocked by police in Florence and Pisa and images 
have been published of policemen using their truncheons on school-age protesters in Pisa. On 22 December 
2023 in Rome, significant clashes between students and police occurred. These episodes were the subject of 
extensive media coverage and parliamentary questions. See written contribution from European Civic Forum 
in the context of the country visit to Italy, p. 6. The Italian authorities considered that the reported episodes 
of  police  violence  were  sporadic  occurrences  and  due  to  the  particular  complexity  and  excitement  of  the 
particular situations. 

283  See 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Italy, pp. 25-26. 
284  Input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report, p. 43. 

34 

 
 
Hub  is  piloted  by  five  public  administrations285  and  four  civil  society  organisations286. 
Stakeholders underlined that the Hub is not yet fully operational, thus it is not yet possible to 
draw conclusions on its effectiveness287. 

285  Presidency  of  the  Council  of  Ministers  –  Department  for  public  administration  and  Department  for 
Institutional  Reforms,  Emilia-Romagna  Region,  Roma  Capitale,  Ministry  of  the  Environment  and  Energy 
Security. 

286  Namely Aip2, Action Aid, Mappina, The Good Lobby. 
287  Information received in the context of the  country visit to Italy from Libera. In the context of the  country 
visit  to  Italy,  The  Good  Lobby  explained  that  the  Hub  is  still  in  its  initial  phase  and,  for  its  success, 
promotional communication support will be important. 

35 

 
 
Annex I: List of sources in alphabetical order* 

* The list of contributions received in the context of the consultation for the 2024 Rule of Law report 
can 
https://commission.europa.eu/publications/2024-rule-law-report-targeted-
stakeholder-consultation_en. 

found 

be 

at 

AGCOM (2008), Resolution No. 666/08/CONS – Regulation for the organisation and maintenance of 
the  register  of  communication  operators  (Delibera  n.  666/08/CONS  –  Regolamento  per 
l’organizzazione e la tenuta del Registro degli operatori di comunicazione). 

AGCOM (2023), Resolution No. 94/23/CONS – Public consultation on the adoption of the Guidelines 
aimed  at  verifying  the  existence  of  positions  of  significant  market  power  detrimental  to  pluralism, 
pursuant to Article 51, paragraph 5, of Legislative Decree no. 208 of 8 November 2021 (Delibera n. 
94/23/CONS  –  Consultazione  pubblica  in  merito  all’adozione  delle  Linee  guida  volte  alla  verifica 
dell’esistenza di posizioni di significativo potere di mercato lesive del pluralismo, ai sensi dell’art. 51, 
comma 5, del d. Lgs. 8 novembre 2021, n. 208). 

Amnesty International Italy (2024), Contribution from Amnesty International Italy for the 2024 Rule 
of Law Report. 

Articolo  21  (2024),  Appeal  against  the  current  selection  criterion  for  the  Rai’s  Board  of  Directors 
(Presentato 
selezione  del  CdA  della  Rai). 
https://www.articolo21.org/2024/05/presentato-il-ricorso-contro-lattuale-criterio-di-selezione-del-cda-
della-rai/. 

criterio  di 

l’attuale 

ricorso 

contro 

il 

Avvenire (2024), Vice-President of the National Association of Magistrates ‘ We are not enemies of 
the  Government,  but  Nordio’s  reform  is  risky’  (Non  siamo  nemici  del  governo,  ma  il  progetto  di 
Nordio  è  rischioso),  https://www.avvenire.it/attualita/pagine/non-siamo-nemici-del-governo-ma-il-
progetto-di-nordio-rischioso-lo-spiegh.  

Centre  for  Media  Pluralism  and  Media  Freedom  (2023),  Media  Pluralism  Monitor  2023  –  country 
report on Italy. 

Centre  for  Media  Pluralism  and  Media  Freedom  (2024),  Media  Pluralism  Monitor  2024  –  country 
report on Italy. 

CEPEJ (2024), Study on the functioning of the judicial system in the EU Member States. 

Chamber  of  Deputies  (2017),  Decision  No.  208/2017  on  Lobbying  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies 
(Decisione n. 208/2017 sulle attività di lobbying presso la Camera dei Deputati). 

Chamber of Deputies (2021), Doc. II No. 21 of 4 June 2021, Proposal for an amendment to the Rules 
of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies-Introduction of the Code of Conduct for Deputies (Proposta 
di modificazione al regolamento-Introduzione del Codice di condotta dei deputati). 

Chamber of Deputies (2022), Draft constitutional law A.C. 23, Amendments to Article 87 and Title 
IV  of  Part  II  of  the  Constitution  on  the  separation  of  careers  of  judges  and  prosecutors  (Modifiche 
all’articolo 87 e al titolo IV della parte II della Costituzione in materia di separazione delle carriere 
giudicante e requirente della magistratura). 

Chamber of Deputies (2022), Draft law A.C 304, Provisions on Conflict of Interest and Delegation to 
the Government to adapt the rules on local government office  holders and members of independent 
guarantee,  supervisory  and  regulatory  authorities,  as  well  as  provisions  on  the  prohibition  of  the 
receipt of payments from foreign states by public office holders (Disposizioni in materia di conflitti di 
interessi e delega al Governo per l’adeguamento della disciplina relativa ai titolari delle cariche di 
governo  locali  e  ai  componenti  delle  autorità  indipendenti  di  garanzia,  vigilanza  e  regolazione, 
nonché disposizioni concernenti il divieto di percezione di erogazioni provenienti da Stati esteri da 
parte dei titolari di cariche pubbliche). 

Chamber of Deputies (2022), Draft law A.C. 426 Establishment of the National Commission for the 
Promotion  and  Protection  of  Fundamental  Human  Rights  (Istituzione  della  Commissione  nazionale 

36 

 
per la promozione e la protezione dei diritti umani fondamentali). 

Chamber of Deputies (2022), Draft constitutional law A.C. 434, Amendments to Article 87 and Title 
IV  of  Part  II  of  the  Constitution  on  the  separation  of  careers  of  judges  and  prosecutors  (Modifiche 
all’articolo 87 e al titolo IV della parte II della Costituzione in materia di separazione delle carriere 
giudicante e requirente della magistratura). 

Chamber  of  Deputies  (2022),  Draft  law  A.C.  533  amending  Law  Decree  No.  149  of  28  December 
2013, converted, with amendments, into Law No. 13 of 21 February 2014, on statutes, transparency 
and financing of political parties, as well as delegating the Government to adopt a consolidated text of 
the  provisions  concerning  political  parties  and  movement  (Modifiche  al  decreto-legge  28  dicembre 
2013, n. 149, convertito, con modificazioni, dalla legge 21 febbraio 2014, n. 13, in materia di statuti, 
trasparenza e finanziamento dei partiti politici, nonché delega al Governo per l’adozione di un testo 
unico delle disposizioni concernenti i partiti e i movimenti politici). 

Chamber  of  Deputies  (2022),  Draft  law  A.C.  580  Establishment  of  the  National  Human  Rights 
Authority (Istituzione dell’Autorità Nazionale per i diritti umani). 

Chamber of Deputies (2023), Draft constitutional law A.C. 806, Amendments to Article 87 and Title 
IV  of  Part  II  of  the  Constitution  on  the  separation  of  careers  of  judges  and  prosecutors  (Modifiche 
all’articolo 87 e al titolo IV della parte II della Costituzione in materia di separazione delle carriere 
giudicante e requirente della magistratura). 

Chamber of Deputies (2023), Draft constitutional law A.C. 824, Amendments to Article 87 and Title 
IV  of  Part  II  of  the  Constitution  on  the  separation  of  careers  of  judges  and  prosecutors  (Modifiche 
all’articolo 87 e al titolo IV della parte II della Costituzione in materia di separazione delle carriere 
giudicante e requirente della magistratura). 

Chamber of Deputies (2023), Draft Law A.C.893 Amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of 
Criminal Procedure on the subject of limitation periods (Modifiche al Codice Penale e al Codice di 
Procedura Penale in materia di prescrizione). 

Chamber of Deputies (2023), Doc. II No. 6 of 1 March 2023, Proposal for an amendment to the Rules 
of  Procedure  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies-  Introduction  of  the  Code  of  Conduct  for  Deputies 
(Proposta di modificazione al regolamento-Introduzione del Codice di condotta dei deputati).  

Chamber of Deputies (2024), Draft Law A.C. 1718, Amendments to the Criminal Code, the Code of 
Criminal Procedure, the Judicial System and the Military Law Code (Modifiche al codice penale, al 
codice di procedura penale, all’ordinamento giudiziario e al codice dell'ordinamento militare). 

Chamber of Deputies (2024), Draft Law A.C. 1921, Amendments to Part Two of the Constitution to 
introduce the direct election of the President of the Council of Ministers, strengthen the stability of 
governments  and  to  abolish  the  power  of  the  President  of  the  Republic  to  appoint  senators  for  life 
(Modifiche alla parte seconda della Costituzione per l’elezione diretta del Presidente del Consiglio 
dei 37inistry, il rafforzamento della stabilità del Governo e l’abolizione della nomina dei senatori a 
vita da parte del Presidente della Repubblica). 

Chamber of Deputies (2024),  Doc. LXXIV n. 3,  Report on the activities carried out and the results 
achieved  by  the  Anti-Mafia  Investigative  Directorate  (First  Half  of  2023)  (Relazione  sull’attività 
svolta e sui risultati conseguiti dalla Direzione Investigativa Antimafia (Primo semestre 2023). 

Chamber of Deputies (2024), Lawmaking: figures and characteristics (La produzione normativa: cifre 
e caratteristiche). 

Civil Liberties Union for Europe (2024), Contribution from Civil Liberties Union for Europe for the 
2024 Rule of Law Report. 

Commissione  di  garanzia  degli  statuti  e  per  la  trasparenza  e  il  controllo  dei  rendiconti  dei  partiti 
politici (2023), Report to Parliament, Relazione_20-apr-2023.pdf (senato.it). 

Commissione  di  garanzia  degli  statuti  e  per  la  trasparenza  e  il  controllo  dei  rendiconti  dei  partiti 

37 

 
Parliament, 
Report 
politici 
https://www.camera.it/application/xmanager/projects/leg19/attachments/uploadfile_commissione_tras
parenza/pdfs/000/000/020/CRP_Relazione_29042024.pdf. 

(2024), 

to 

Committee to Protect Journalists (2024), Contribution from Committee to Protect Journalists for the 
2024 Rule of Law Report.  

Constitutional Court (2007), Judgement of 23 May 2007, No. 171/2007. 

Constitutional Court (2020), Judgement of 9 June 2020, No. 132/2020. 

Constitutional Court (2021), Judgement of 22 June 2021, No. 150/2021. 

Corriere  della  Sera  (2023),  Crosetto:  ‘Groups  of  magistrates  against  the  government’  (Crosetto: 
‘Gruppi  di  magistrati  contro  il  governo’),  https://www.corriere.it/politica/23_novembre_26/guido-
crosetto-intervista2-de171344-8bc8-11ee-a024-cf804db2e6bb.shtml.  

Corriere  della  Sera  (2024),  Justice  Reform,  Casciaro  (ANM)  ‘From  Nordio  unjust  accusations,  he 
should  take  a  tour  of  the  judicial  offices’  (Riforma  della  giustizia,  Casciaro  (ANM)  ‘Da  Nordio 
giudiziari’), 
accuse 
https://roma.corriere.it/notizie/politica/24_giugno_01/riforma-della-giustizia-casciaro-anm-da-nordio-
accuse-ingiuste-faccia-un-giro-degli-uffici-giudiziari-3ba04f81-c4dc-4f30-92d7-24d1d34fbxlk.shtml.  

ingiuste, 

faccia 

uffici 

degli 

giro 

un 

Corriere della Sera (2024), RAI, two appeals to the Tar to block the appointments of the new Board of 
le  nomine  del  nuovo  Cda), 
Directors 
https://roma.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/24_maggio_02/rai-due-ricorsi-al-tar-per-bloccare-le-nomine-
del-nuovo-cda-ea62c15f-e0e0-4943-ac85-d2e99a301xlk.shtml. 

ricorsi  al  Tar  per  bloccare 

(Rai,  due 

Council of Europe (1999), Criminal Law Convention on Corruption. 

Council of Europe, Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists – Italy. 

Council  of  Europe:  Committee  of  Ministers  (2010),  Recommendation  CM/Rec(2010)12  of  the 
Committee of Ministers to member states on judges: independence, efficiency and responsibilities. 

Council of Europe: Venice Commission (2016), The Rule of Law Checklist. 

Council of Europe (2024), Supervision of the execution of judgments decisions of the European Court 
of Human Rights – 17th Annual Report of the Committee of Ministers – 2023. 

Council of State (2024), Written contribution from Council of State in the context of the country visit 
to Italy. 

Court of Auditors (2024), Written contribution from Court of  Auditors in the context of the country 
visit to Italy. 

Department  of  Public  Security  (2024),  Acts  of  intimidation  against  journalists  –  2023  (Atti 
intimidatori nei confronti di giornalisti – 2023). 

Department of Tax Justice (2024), Written contribution from Department of Tax Justice in the context 
of the country visit to Italy. 

Directorate-General  for  Communication  (2023),  Flash  Eurobarometer  524  –  Businesses’  attitudes 
towards corruption in the EU. 

Directorate-General  for  Communication  (2023),  Special  Eurobarometer  534  –  Citizens’  attitudes 
towards corruption in the EU. 

Directorate-General  for  Communication  (2024),  Flash  Eurobarometer  543  on  Businesses’  attitudes 
towards corruption in the EU. 

Directorate-General  for  Communication  (2024),  Special  Eurobarometer  548  on  Citizens’  attitudes 
towards corruption in the EU. 

Emergency (2024), Written contribution from Emergency in the context to the country visit to Italy. 

38 

 
European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (2023), Mapping Media Freedom, country report for 
Italy. 

European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (2024), Mapping Media Freedom, country report for 
Italy. 

European Civic Forum (2024), Written contribution from European Civic Forum in the context of the 
country visit to Italy. 

European Commission (2020), 2020 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation 
in Italy. 

European Commission (2021), 2021 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation 
in Italy. 

European Commission (2021), Recovery and Resilience Plan for Italy. 

European Commission (2022), 2022 EU Justice Scoreboard. 

European Commission (2022), 2022 Rule of Law Report, The rule of law situation in the European 
Union. 

European Commission (2022), 2022 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation 
in Italy. 

European Commission (2023), 2023 Rule of Law Report, Country Chapter on the rule of law situation 
in Italy. 

European Commission (2024), EU Justice Scoreboard. 

European  Court  of  Human  Rights  (1997),  Judgement  of  2  September  1997,  Abenavoli  v.  Italy, 
24487/94. 

European Federation of Journalists (2023) Italy: EFJ joins FNSI in warning about the independence 
of PSM. 

European Federation of Journalists (2023), Italy: MFRR partners condemn summons of RAI presenter 
Sigfrido Ranucci. 

European Federation of Journalists (2024), Italy: Public service RAI becomes a “megaphone” of the 
government. 

European Implementation Network (2024), Contribution from European Implementation Network for 
the 2024 Rule of Law Report. 

European Parliament (2023), Flash Eurobarometer: News & Media Survey 2023. 

European Public Prosecutor’s Office (2024), Annual Report 2023. 

European Public Prosecutor’s Office (2024), Contribution from European Public Prosecutor’s Office 
for the 2024 Rule of Law Report. 

European  Public  Prosecutor’s  Office  (2024),  Investigation  ‘Resilient  Crime’:  22  arrests  in  raid 
against  criminal  organisation  suspected  of  €600  million  fraud  involving  NextGenerationEU  funds, 
https://www.eppo.europa.eu/en/news/investigation-resilient-crime-22-arrests-raid-against-criminal-
organisation-suspected-eu600.   

Federazione  Nazionale  Stampa  Italiana  (2024),  Written  contribution  from  Federazione  Nazionale 
Stampa Italiana in the context of the country visit to Italy. 

Federazione  Nazionale  Stampa  Italiana  (2024),  Par  condicio,  Usigrai  and  Cdr  RaiNews:  “No  to 
political comities on the Rai newspapers and government propaganda” (Par Condicio, Usigrai e Cdr 
testate  Rai  e  alla  propaganda  di  governo»). 
RaiNews:  «No  ai  comizi  politici  sulle 
https://www.fnsi.it/par-condicio-usigrai-e-cdr-rainews-no-ai-comizi-politici-sulle-testate-rai-e-alla-
propaganda-di-governo. 

39 

 
GRECO (2019), Third Evaluation Round – Second Addendum to the Second Compliance Report on 
Italy on incriminations and transparency of party funding. 

GRECO  (2021),  Fourth  Evaluation  Round  –  Second  Compliance  Report  on  Italy  on  corruption 
prevention in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors. 

GRECO (2024), Fourth Evaluation Round, Second Addendum to the Second Compliance Report on 
Italy on corruption prevention in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors. 

High  Council for  the Judiciary  (2022),  Opinion  pursuant to  Article  10 of  Law  24  March  1958,  No. 
195, on the amendments to the draft law A.C. 2681 Legislative Decree ‘Implementation of Law No. 
71 of 17 June 2022, which delegates the Government to reform the judicial system and to adapt the 
military judicial system, providing also for rules on legal, organisational and disciplinary matters, on 
eligibility and redeployment of magistrates and on establishment and functioning of the High Council 
for  the  Judiciary’  10/PA/2022  of  23  March  2022  (Richiesta  del  Ministro  della  Giustizia,  ai  sensi 
dell'art. 10 della legge 24 marzo 1958, n. 195, di parere sugli emendamenti al disegno di legge A.C. 
2681 recante: Deleghe al Governo per la riforma dell'ordinamento giudiziario e per l'adeguamento 
dell'ordinamento giudiziario militare, nonché disposizioni in materia ordinamentale, organizzativa e 
disciplinare, di eleggibilità e ricollocamento in ruolo dei magistrati e di costituzione e funzionamento 
del  Consiglio  superiore  della  magistratura,  approvati  dal  Consiglio  dei  Ministri  nella  riunione 
dell’11 febbraio 2022). 

High Council for the Judiciary (2023),  Press release of 26 October 2023, First Commission opens a 
case  to  protect  judge  Apostolico  (Prima  commissione  apre  pratica  a  tutela  Dott.ssa  Apostolico), 
https://www.csm.it/web/csm-internet/dettaglio/-/asset_publisher/kPfLeBsi9DD1/content/csm-prima-
commissione-apre-pratica-a-tutela-dott-ssa-apostolico. 

High Council for the Judiciary (2024), Opinion pursuant to Article 10 of Law No. 195/58 on the draft 
Legislative Decree ‘Implementation of Law No. 71 of 17 June 2022, which delegates the Government 
to  reform  the  judicial  system  and  to  adapt  the  military  judicial  system,  providing  also  for  rules  on 
legal, organisational and disciplinary matters, on eligibility and redeployment of magistrates and on 
establishment and functioning of the High Council for  the Judiciary’ of 13 March 2024 (Parere, ai 
sensi dell'art. 10 legge n. 195/58 sullo schema di decreto legislativo recante “Attuazione della legge 
17 giugno 2022, n. 71, recante deleghe al governo per la riforma dell'ordinamento giudiziario e per 
l'adeguamento  dell'ordinamento  giudiziario  militare,  nonché  disposizioni in  materia  ordinamentale, 
organizzativa e disciplinare, di eleggibilità e ricollocamento in ruolo dei magistrati e di costituzione e 
funzionamento del consiglio superiore della magistratura). 

High Council for the Judiciary (2024), Written contribution in the context of the country visit to Italy. 

High Court of Cassation (2024), Contribution from the High Court of Cassation for the 2024 Rule of 
Law Report. 

Italian Government (2024), Input from Italy for the 2024 Rule of Law Report. 

Italian  Government  (2024),  Written  contribution  from  the  Italian  Government  in  the  context  of  the 
country visit to Italy. 

La  Notizia  (2024),  'A  useless  and  dangerous  reform  to  weaken  the  judiciary':  Anm  Vice-President 
Maddalena  speaks  (‘Una  riforma  inutile  e  pericolosa  per  indebolire  la  magistratura’:  parla  la 
vicepresidente 
https://www.lanotiziagiornale.it/una-riforma-inutile-e-
pericolosa-per-indebolire-la-magistratura-parla-la-vicepresidente-dellanm-maddalena/. 

dell’Anm  Maddalena), 

Magistrats  Européens  pour  la  Démocratie  et  les  Libertés  (2024),  Contribution  from  Magistrats 
Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés for the 2024 Rule of Law Report. 

Media Freedom Rapid Response (2024), MFRR to conduct a mission to Italy amid worsening state of 
media  freedom  in  the  country,  https://europeanjournalists.org/blog/2024/05/08/mfrr-to-conduct-a-
mission-to-italy-amid-worsening-state-of-media-freedom-in-the-country/.  

40 

 
Ministry  of  Justice  (2023),  Press  release  of  25  October  2023,  Statute  of  limitation  back  to  the 
sostanziale), 
substantive 
torna 
https://www.gnewsonline.it/prescrizione-si-torna-a-quella-sostanziale/. 

(Prescrizione, 

limitation 

period 

quella 

si 

a 

Ministry of Justice (2023), Press release of 8 December 2023, Statute of limitation, Nordio and Sisto: 
‘Full harmony, no confrontation’ (Prescrizione, Nordio e Sisto: ‘Totale armonia, nessuno scontro’), 
https://www.gnewsonline.it/prescrizione-nordio-e-sisto-totale-armonia-nessuno-scontro/. 

Ministry  of  Justice  (2024),  Written  contribution  in  the  context  to  the  country  visit  to  Italy  (in 
cooperation, in some cases, with the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Ministry of Enterprises 
and Made in Italy). 

National Anti-Corruption Authority (2023), Resolution No. 7 of 17 January 2023. 

National Anti-Corruption Authority (2023), Resolution No. 605 of 19 December 2023, 2023 Update 
to the National Anti-corruption Plan 2022 (Delibera n. 605 del 19 dicembre 2023 – Aggiornamento 
2023 PNA 2022). 

National  Anti-Corruption  Authority  (2023),  Hearing  of  the  President  of  ANAC,  lawyer  Giuseppe 
Busìa,  on  the  draft  government  legislative  initiative  amending  the  Criminal  Code,  the  Code  of 
Criminal  Procedure,  the  Judicial  System  and  the  Military  Order  Code  (S.808),  at  the  Second 
Committee  –  Justice  of  the  Senate,  5  September  2023  (Audizione  del  Presidente  dell’ANAC,  Avv. 
Giuseppe Busìa, sul disegno di legge di iniziativa governativa recante modifiche al codice penale, al 
codice  di  procedura  penale,  all’ordinamento  giudiziario  e  al  codice  dell’ordinamento  militare 
(S.808), presso la II° Commissione – Giustizia. Senato, 5 settembre 2023). 

National  Anti-Corruption  Authority  (2024),  Hearing  of  the  President  of  ANAC,  lawyer  Giuseppe 
Busìa,  on  the  draft  government  legislative  initiative  amending  the  Criminal  Code,  the  Code  of 
Criminal  Procedure,  the  Judicial  System  and  the  Military  Order  Code  (A.C.  No  1718)  –  Second 
Justice  Committee  –  Chamber  of  Deputies  –  28  March  2024  (Audizione  del  Presidente  dell’ANAC, 
Avv.  Giuseppe  Busìa,  sul  disegno  di  legge  di  iniziativa  governativa  recante  modifiche  al  codice 
penale,  al  codice  di  procedura  penale,  all’ordinamento  giudiziario  e  al  codice  dell’ordinamento 
militare (A.C. n. 1718) – II° Commissione Giustizia – Camera dei deputati – 28 marzo 2024). 

National Anti-Corruption Authority (2024), Written contribution in the context of the country visit to 
Italy. 

National  Anti-mafia  and  Anti-terrorism  Directorate  (2024),  Written  contribution  from  the  National 
Anti-mafia and Anti-terrorism Directorate in the context of the country visit to Italy. 

National  Association  of  Magistrates  (2023),  Unitary  document  of  26  November  2023  (Documento 
unitario  del  26  Novembre  2023),  https://www.associazionemagistrati.it/doc/4049/assemblea-
straordinaria-generale-dei-soci-il-documento-unitario-approvato.htm. 

National  Association  of  Magistrates  (2024),  Press  release  ‘The  ANM  on  psyco-aptitude  tests  for 
access  to  the  judiciary’  (‘L’Anm  sui  test  psicoattitudinali  di  ingresso  in  Magistratura’), 
https://www.associazionemagistrati.it/allegati/anm-su-test-psicoattitudinali.pdf.  
National Association of Magistrates (2024), Final Motion of the 36th National Congress. 

National Association of Magistrates-Milan Section (2024), Press release of 7 June 2024. 

National  Association  of  Magistrates (2024),  Press  release of  15  June  2024,  A cultural  mobilisation 
(Una  mobilitazione  culturale),  https://www.associazionemagistrati.it/doc/4313/una-mobilitazione-
culturale.htm.  

OpenPolis (2024), Written contribution from OpenPolis in the context of the country visit to Italy.  

Ordine  dei  Giornalisti  (2023),  Threats,  over  250  journalists  under  escort  (Minacce,  oltre  250 
giornalisti sotto vigilanza), https://www.odg.it/minacce-oltre-250-giornalisti-sottovigilanza/. 

41 

 
Osservatorio  Balcani  Caucaso  Transeuropa/Centro  per  la  Cooperazione  Internazionale  (2024), 
Contribution  from  Osservatorio  Balcani  Caucaso  Transeuropa/Centro  per  la  Cooperazione 
Internazionale for the 2024 Rule of Law Report. 

Ossigeno  per  l’Informazione  (2023),  Seventy  thousand  journalists  threatened  since  2006 in  Italy, 
Italia,  500  nel  2023), 
500 in  2023 
https://www.ossigeno.info/settemila-giornalisti-minacciati-dal-2006-in-italia-500-nel-2023/. 

(Settemila  giornalisti  minacciati  dal  2006 

in 

Parliamentary  Committees  (2024),  Written  contribution  from  Parliamentary  Committees  in  the 
context of the country visit to Italy. 

Presidency  of  the  Council  of  Ministers-Department  for  legal  and  legislative  affairs  and  Department 
for  relations  with  Parliament  (2024),  Written  contribution  from  Presidency  of  the  Council  of 
Ministers-Department for legal and legislative affairs and Department for relations with Parliament 
in the context of the country visit to Italy. 

Presidency  of  the  Council  of  Ministers-Department  for  Institutional  Reforms  (2024),  Written 
contribution from Presidency of the Council of Ministers-Department for Institutional Reforms in the 
context of the country visit to Italy. 

Presidents of the Italian Appeal Courts (2023), Letter to the Minister of Justice and the Presidents of 
the Justice Committees of both Houses of the Parliament. 

RAI (2024), Written contribution from RAI in the context to the country visit to Italy. 

Reporters Without Borders (2024), 2024 World Press Freedom Index. 

Reuters  Institute  (2023),  Digital  News  Report  Italy,  https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-
news-report/2023/italy.  

Senate of the Republic (2022),  Draft law A.S. 207 amending Law Decree No. 149 of 28 December 
2013, converted, with amendments, into Law No. 13 of 21 February 2014, on statutes, transparency 
and financing of political parties, as well as delegating the Government to adopt a consolidated text of 
the provisions concerning political parties and movements for the full implementation of Article 49 of 
the Constitution (Modifiche al decreto-legge 28 dicembre 2013, n.149, convertito, con modificazioni, 
dalla  legge  21  febbraio  2014,  n.13,  in  materia  di  statuti,  trasparenza  e  finanziamento  dei  partiti 
politici,  nonché  delega  al Governo  per l’adozione  di  un testo  unico  delle  disposizioni  concernenti i 
partiti e i movimenti politici per la piena attuazione dell’articolo 49 della Costituzione).  

Senate of the Republic (2022), Draft law A.S. 303 Establishment of the Authority for the Protection of 
Personal  Data  and  Human  Rights  assigning  to  the  Authority  for  Data  Protection  the  tasks  of  an 
independent  national  institution  for  the  protection  and  promotion  of  human  rights  (Istituzione  del 
Garante per la protezione dei dati personali e dei diritti umani attraverso l’assegnazione al Garante 
per la protezione dei dati personali dei compiti di istituzione nazionale indipendente per la protezione 
e promozione dei diritti umani). 

Senate of the Republic (2023), Draft law A.S. 466 - Amendments to Law No. 47 of 8 February 1948, 
to the Criminal Code, to the Code of Criminal Procedure and to Legislative Decree No. 70 of 9 April 
2003,  concerning  defamation,  defamation  by  the  press  or  other  means  of  dissemination  and  the 
conviction  of  the  plaintiff  as  well  as  professional  secrecy,  and  provisions  for  the  protection  of  the 
defamed person (A.S. 466 – Modifiche alla legge 8 febbraio 1948, n. 47, al codice penale, al codice di 
procedura  penale  e  al  decreto  legislativo  9  aprile  2003,  n.  70,  in  materia  di  diffamazione,  di 
diffamazione con il mezzo della stampa o con altro mezzo di diffusione e di condanna del querelante 
nonché di segreto professionale, e disposizioni a tutela del soggetto diffamato). 

Senate of the Republic (2023), Draft constitutional law A.S. 504, Amendments to Article 87 and Title 
IV  of  Part  II  of  the  Constitution  on  the  separation  of  careers  of  judges  and  prosecutors  (Modifiche 
all’articolo 87 e al titolo IV della parte II della Costituzione in materia di separazione delle carriere 
giudicante e requirente della magistratura). 

42 

 
Senate of the Republic (2023), Draft law A.S. 505 Rules for the assignment of tasks as an independent 
national authority for the protection and promotion of human rights to the Data Protection Authority 
(Disposizioni  per  l’assegnazione  al  Garante  per  la  protezione  dei  dati  personali  dei  compiti  di 
istituzione Nazionale indipendente per la protezione e promozione dei diritti umani). 

Senate of the Republic (2023), Draft law A.S. 549 laying down provisions for the implementation of 
Article 49 of the Constitution in the field of regulation of parties and delegating the Government to 
adopt  a  consolidated  text  of  the  provisions  concerning  political  parties,  political  activity,  electoral 
campaigns,  forms  of  contributions  and  transparency  of  budgets  and  accounts  (Disposizioni  per 
l’attuazione dell’articolo 49 della Costituzione in materia di disciplina dei partiti. Delega al Governo 
per l’adozione di un testo unico delle norme riguardanti la disciplina dei partiti, dell’attività politica, 
delle  campagne  elettorali,  delle  forme  di  contribuzione  e  della  trasparenza  dei  bilanci  e  dei 
rendiconti). 

Senate of the Republic (2023), Draft law A.S. 552, Amendment to Law no. 96 of 6 July 2012 on the 
regulation  of  the  Commission  for  the  verification  of  statutes  and  the  control  of  the  accounts  of 
political parties (Modifica alla legge 6 luglio 2012, n. 96, in materia di disciplina della Commissione 
per la verifica degli statuti e il controllo dei rendiconti dei partiti politici). 

Senate of the Republic (2023), Draft law A.S. 808, Amendments to the Criminal Code, the Code of 
Criminal Procedure, the Judicial System and the Code of Military Regulations (Modifiche al codice 
penale,  al  codice  di  procedura  penale,  all'ordinamento  giudiziario  e  al  codice  dell'ordinamento 
militare). 

Senate of the Republic (2023), Draft law A.S n. 933, Implementing provisions of Law No. 134 of 27 
September  2021  on  priority  criteria  for  prosecution  (Disposizioni  di  attuazione  della  legge  27 
settembre 2021, n. 134, in materia di criteri di priorità nell’esercizio dell’azione penale). 

The  Good  Lobby  (2023),  Are  we  all  traders  of  influence?  (Siamo  tutti  trafficanti  di  influenze 
illecite?), https://www.thegoodlobby.it/siamo-tutti-trafficanti-di-influenze-illecite/. 

The Good Lobby, The best reform of trading in influence is the regulation of lobbying (‘La migliore 
riforma sul traffico di influenze illecite è la regolamentazione del lobbying’). 

The  Good  Lobby (2023),  Regulate lobbying to  improve  democracy  (Regolamentare  il  lobbying  per 
migliorare la democrazia), https://www.thegoodlobby.it/campagne/lobbying-italia/. 

The  Good 
https://www.thegoodlobby.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/TGL_Decalogo-Anticorruzione_2023.pdf. 

(2023),  Anticorruption  Decalogue 

Anticorruzione), 

(Decalogo 

Lobby 

The Good Lobby (2024), Written contribution from The Good Lobby in the context of the country visit 
to Italy.  

Transparency 
International 
https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2023/index/ita. 

(2024), 

Corruption 

Perceptions 

Index 

2023, 

UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) (2003), United Nations Convention Against Corruption. 

43 

 
 
Annex II: Country visit to Italy 

The Commission services held virtual meetings in February 2024 with: 

Italian Association of Constitutionalists (Associazione Italiana dei Costituzionalisti) 

•  AGCOM (Media Authority) 
•  Amnesty International Italy 
•  Anti-corruption Agency (ANAC) 
•  Anti-corruption Unit of the Financial Police 
• 
•  Association of Journalists (Ordine dei Giornalisti) 
•  CILD 
•  Constitutional Court (Corte Costituzionale) 
•  COSPE 
•  Council of State (Consiglio di Stato) 
•  Court of Auditors (Corte dei Conti) 
•  Emergency 
•  Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (Journalist Association) 
•  High Court of Cassation (Corte Suprema di Cassazione) 
•  High Council for the Judiciary (Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura) 
•  Libera 
•  Ministry of Justice 
•  National Anti-mafia and Anti-terrorism Directorate (DNAA) 
•  National Association of Magistrates 
•  National Bar Association (Consiglio Nazionale Forense) 
•  Open Polis 
•  Ossigeno per l’Informazione (Journalist Association) 
•  Parliament (Senate of the Republic and Chamber of Deputies) 
•  Presidency of the Council of Ministers 
•  Prosecution Service at the High Court of Cassation 
•  Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Auditors 
•  RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. 
•  Tax Courts 
•  The Good Lobby 
•  Transparency International – Italy 
•  Unione Forense per la Tutela dei Diritti Umani 

* The Commission also met the following organisations in a number of horizontal meetings: 

•  Amnesty International EU 
•  Centre for Democracy and Technology Europe 
•  Centre for European Volunteering 
•  Civil Liberties Union for Europe 
•  Civil Rights Defenders 
•  Civil Society Europe 
•  Culture Action Europe 

44 

 
 
•  Democracy Reporting International 
•  European Centre for Non-Profit Law 
•  European Civic Forum 
•  European Federation of Journalists 
•  European Partnership for Democracy 
•  European Youth Forum 
•  Free Press Unlimited 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  JEF Europe 
•  Open Society Foundations 
•  Philanthropy Europe Association 
•  PICUM 
•  Reporters Without Borders 
•  SOLIDAR 
•  Transparency International EU 

International Federation for Human Rights 
International Planned Parenthood Federation 
International Press Institute 
Irish Council for Civil Liberties 

45