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Italy: Flood of legislation as term comes to an end - The harshest drug laws in Europe and the toughest internet regulations

01 January 2006

The months leading up to the general election to be held in April 2006 saw the passing of several new laws. These range from the new law on self-defence, which had been awaiting approval since 2003, to the new law on drugs, which was contained in a law introducing "urgent" security measures for the Winter Olympics in Turin after parliament had broken up with a view to the elections. THere were also measures to combat child pornography and to protect intellectual property that introduce changes affecting Internet users and service providers.

Law on self defence

On 13 February 2006, an amendment to article 52 of the penal code was adopted in a law that extends the right of self-defence in one's residence, shop or workplace. It extends the right of self-defence by allowing the victim of a break-in or robbery attempt to fire a legally owned firearm at the intruder "to protect his or a third party's physical integrity" or "to protect his or a third party's property", if there is no indication that the intruder will desist from doing so or there is a risk of suffering an aggression, deeming that such a response would be proportional. The law was approved in parliament with MPs from the government coalition voting in favour and the opposition voting against, arguing that the measure may lead to a situation that resembles the "Far West". It was promoted by the Lega Nord, which has backed initiatives by citizens in the past to clear up neighbourhoods from crime, acting as "vigilantes". The law Legge del 13 febbraio 2006, n.59 is available at: http://gazzette.comune.jesi.an.it/2006/51/2.htm

Law on drugs

This is possibly the law that gave rise to the most controversy, for both its content and the procedure that was used to obtain its approval. The law, presented by deputy prime minister Gianfranco Fini and submitted for parliamentary scrutiny after its approval by the cabinet on 13 November 2003 (for analysis: "New drugs law heralds the mass criminalisation of drug users" http://www.statewatch.org/news/2004/feb/italy-new-drugs-law.pdf, February 2004). It had been experiencing a difficult journey through the legislative process where it was undergoing assessment by the senate, and had given rise to a strong protest movement. The main reasons for this were that it sought to do away with the distinction between "soft" and "hard" drugs, to turn the possession of small amounts of drugs and personal consumption into a criminal offence, to expand prison sentencing for drug-related offences, and to introduce a wide array of "administrative sanctions" and compulsory rehabilitation for drug offenders.

These key aspects of the law (22 articles out of 106) were approved in a decree which was adopted on 30 December 2005 and voted on by parliament through an "urgent" procedure that by-passed the senate on 7 February 2006, to introduce "urgent measures for security and the financing of the Winter Olympics". It came into force following its publication in the Official Journal on 27 February 2006. The decree introduces a radical overhaul of the regime for combating the consumption of illegal substances and decrees an equal status for private and public drug rehabilitation centres, offering an important commercial opportunity for expansion to the former. Measures to allow undercover operations by drug officers are also envisaged, granting plainclothes officers immunity for activities carried out to obtain evidence of offences, which can be extended to individuals whose assistance they enjoy, with prison sentences applicable for people who unduly disclose the names of officers involved in such operations running from two to six years. Officers will have to inform judges that an undercover operation is underway within 48 hours of its start.

The list of drug offences