Italy: Carabinieri's new status sparks controversy
01 March 2000
The Riordino Arma dei carabinieri, Corpo forestale dello Stato, Guardia di Finanza e Polizia di Stato law, (Law on the reorganisation of the carabinieri corps, Territorial Army, Customs and Excise and State Police), on the reorganisation of police forces, first approved on 24 February 2000 by the Italian parliament, and ratified by the Senate on 30 March against the wishes of some police unions, has resulted in controversy between law enforcement agencies. The law, approved in the Senate by 181 votes to 12 with four MPs abstaining, establishes the carabinieri as Italy's fourth armed force alongside the army, navy and airforce.
The carabinieri had been a subordinate force within the army. The 111,575-strong paramilitary force, set up in 1814, will now take orders directly from the Ministry of Defence, and from the Ministry of the Interior for matters relating to public order duties. The reform also affects the Guardia di Finanza (customs), which "will exercise the functions of an economic and financial police to protect the State's and European Union's finances", and the Corpo Forestale (Territorial Army), whose role will include functions as judicial police working alongside investigating magistrate's, and reserve public security duties in remote areas where no other force is present.
The law alters the relationship between the national police force and the carabinieri. According to the 1981 law, "the Interior Ministry issues directives to the public security department headed by the chief of police", which in turn liaises with constables and prefects. The new law establishes that "The Interior Ministry's directives, with regards to public security coordination, are also addressed to the general commands of the corps [carabinieri] and the police force headquarters", changing a practice in which the carabinieri acted only after consultation with the police.
The Associazione Nazionale Funzionari di Polizia (ANFP, National Association of Police Officers), twice criticised the reform in advertisements in national newspapers. The carabinieri were accused of undue political lobbying to obtain the reform, and the law was denounced as "dangerous", granting an excessive concentration of powers to a military corps which should be subordinate to a civilian force in matters of public security. The advertisements also reminded the public of "Piano Solo", an aborted 1964 coup attempt by General Giovanni De Lorenzo, who was head of the carabinieri at the time, to warn politicians against ratifying the reform.
The ratification of the reform was welcomed by Undersecretary Massimo Brutti as necessary to ensure the "modernity", "innovation" and effectiveness of Italy's law enforcement agencies. However, it was soon overshadowed by a document which surfaced, entitled "Report on the state of the citizens' morale and well-being". It was written by Colonel Antonio Pappalardo, head of Cocer, a carabinieri trade union. Pappalardo was promptly replaced, but commentators were perplexed as to why he was not previously disciplined about a document which was incompatible with democratic principles, and had been posted on carabinieri station bulletin boards since 19 January.
It expressed hostility for state institutions and businessmen and described the central role, which the Constitution grants the armed forces, as the "Republic's democratic essence". It continues: "Must this force [the carabinieri] remain within the institutional framework, or must it make its contribution so that efforts by the new society shall prevail for the establishment of a new kind of State and of a new Europe, which political parties, as they are presently structured... can no longer guarantee?"
Avvenimenti 9.4.00; Corriere della Sera 24.2.00, 31.3.00; Messaggero 13.3.00; Repubblica 23.2.00, 24, 27, 30 & 31.3.00, 5 & 20.4.00; Ddl 6249 - Riordino Arma dei carabinieri, Corpo forestale dello Stato, Guardia di Finanza e Polizia di Stato (
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