The Rule of Law (RoL) Mechanism was introduced by the European Commission in 2020 to enhance democracy, fundamental rights and the rule of law in the EU member states. The mechanism is based on an annual process of monitoring and dialogue and applies to all member states simultaneously. To highlight issues and advance best practices throughout the Union, each annual report focuses on some thematic areas. The Country Chapter on Italy emphasises that the absence of a National Human Rights Institution, strategic litigations and increased online attacks against journalists, attacks on human rights activists, the delay in the implementation of European Court rulings, and difficulty in accessing information continue to be issues of concern despite several reforms. The report offers comprehensive recommendations for improving the RoL situation in Italy, with a focus on strengthening civic space, public involvement, transparency, and digitalisation of criminal courts. 

Justice System

The RoL Report notes that public perception of judicial independence has steadily grown over the past few years. It also evaluates the reform of the High Council of Judiciary, which was adoptedreform2022. The report states that new tax courts have been established following Italy’s commitments under the Recovery and Resilience Plan. Still, challenges persist regarding their independence as tax judges are appointed through a procedure involving the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), and MEF agencies can also be parties in matters before these courts. 

The report focuses on the ongoing debates in the Parliamentary Commission on Constitutional Affairs about the separation of careers between judges and prosecutors and the reorganisation of the Prosecution Service. The proposals include amending the Constitution to differentiate magistrates based on their roles and establishing separate self-government bodies for judges and prosecutors. The report, however, takes note of the concerns that the proposal creates among stakeholders as many think that prosecutors may become too distant from the judicial culture and the reform also raises the possibility of political influence. Additionally, the Country Chapter expresses grave concerns about the disciplinary actions taken against a panel of Milan Court of Appeal judges by the Minister of Justice in April 2023 because of the content of their decisions. In this light, the report recalls the national legislation that states that ‘the activity of interpreting provisions of law and assessing facts and evidence shall not give rise to disciplinary liability’.

Regarding the quality and efficiency of the justice system, the RoL report highlights the progress made in the digitalisation of the civil justice system. The report states that the electronic management of all documents, including digital filing and access to court case files has been made mandatory since January 2023. Despite significant progress, stakeholders underline that digitalisation needs to be supported by further investments in materials and training to become fully meaningful and operational. The report highlights that efficiency has improved considerably, but the length of court proceedings remains a persistent issue of concern. The report acknowledges that Italy adopted two Legislative Decrees on October 10, 2022, reforming the criminal and civil justice procedures, as suggested in the previous RoL report.  The priorities are accelerating case resolution, addressing the need for efficiency in criminal court proceedings, and introducing restorative justice measures.

Anti-Corruption Framework

The report notes that the National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC) oversees the implementation of the local three-year anti-corruption action plans, coordinates the National Anti-Corruption Plan, and is responsible for preventing corruption in the public administration sector. While the report acknowledges the improvement in the last five years, it states that according to the 2023 Special Eurobarometer on Corruption, 85% of respondents consider corruption widespread in Italy and 33% feel personally affected by corruption in their daily lives.

The report recognises several positive steps undertaken by Italy to reform the anti-corruption framework:

• The increased investments in IT tools and enhanced digitalisation made it easier for law enforcement bodies to access financial information.
• Cooperation and coordination between the various national police and prosecution services, the tax authorities, and the Anti-Corruption Authority continue to be effective, as they were in 2022.
• Progress has been made in the adoption of comprehensive legislation on conflicts of interest according to the 2022 recommendation. The report states that the Parliament is currently debating a draft law that would address conflicts of interest for the president, members of independent supervisory and regulatory bodies, and those holding state, regional, or municipal government positions. 
• Some progress has been achieved in addressing the necessity of establishing a legislative footprint and adopting thorough lobbying standards.
• Progress in addressing the practice concerning political party and campaign finance has been acknowledged as hearings on a draft law are being held in the Senate. However, the report expresses concerns about the lack of a centralised, single, machine-readable register to help ensure that political party and campaign finance information is available in a coherent, understandable, and timely manner.
• The Council of Ministers adopted Legislative Decree No. 24/2023, which applies national and EU legislation on whistleblower protection. The report notes that the legislation covers whistleblowers in the public and private sectors and consolidates protections under existing laws. 
• Finally, the report mentions a new Public Procurement Code, which entered into force on 1 April 2023. The Code aims to simplify and streamline procedures and to accelerate and liberalise the procurement process.

The Situation of Media Freedom and Pluralism

The report addresses the legal and regulatory frameworks in place to ensure freedom of the press. The report mentions the following: 

• Italy has a strong, independent media regulator – the Italian Communication Regulatory Authority (AGCOM), which has extensive authority to regulate, monitor, enforce, and impose sanctions in the media sector. The report underlines several pieces of EU legislation, such as the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, the Copyright Directive, and the Electronic Communication Code, that have been transposed into the Italian legal framework and have helped in the expansion of AGCOM’s competencies to matters related to digital and media literacy initiatives as well as to the regulation and supervision of digital media and online platforms, including digital advertising and pluralism, disinformation and hate speech in the online environment. 
• Italy has adopted necessary measures to reduce the media sector's economic instability and guarantee the right to information. 
• Proactive measures have been undertaken through legislative interventions to guarantee that journalists and media workers are protected from assaults, intimidation, hate crimes, and similar incidents. The Hate Speech Regulation, designed to improve the protection offered to journalists facing intimidation, smear campaigns, and cyberbullying, is specifically mentioned.
• In order to conform to EU standards and norms, Italy initiated a reform process to review the defamation law and enhance the protection of professional secrecy and journalistic sources.

While highlighting the attempts made to improve the state of media freedom in Italy, the report raises some issues regarding the actual situation of media freedom in the country. Firstly, the report notes that more structural governmental interventions are required to prevent the concentration of funding in large and medium media houses to ensure the long-term viability of smaller media houses and the more equal distribution of resources to non-profit, or local media houses. Secondly, the report points out that although the right to access information is provided in law, stakeholders have raised concerns about the implementation of such a right. They contend that it becomes more difficult for journalists and the general public to access pertinent information in a timely manner due to delays and practical barriers. This negatively impacts accountability and transparency, especially when it comes to public authorities. Thirdly, the RoL report sheds light on the fact that even when there is a legal framework protecting journalists, harassment of journalists still occurs in diverse ways. The report highlights that journalists increasingly face online attacks and verbal harassment. According to the Council of Europe’s Platform to promote the protection of journalism and the safety of journalists, since the 2022 RoL report 30 alerts of attacks on journalists have been recorded concerning Italy. The report also expresses concerns about the rising strategic lawsuit (SLAPP) cases targeting media personnel. Finally, the report states that defamation laws, SLAPPs, and intimidation jointly create a chilling environment that threatens investigative journalism and leads to restrictions on free speech and public debate.

Institutional Issues Related to Checks and Balances

The Country Chapter raises several important concerns regarding institutional checks and balances in Italy. The lack of a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) is one of the primary issues underlined in the report. According to the report, no real efforts have been made to create an NHRI, even though many draft laws have been proposed. The report goes on to state that stakeholders have criticised the draft law, which seeks to give the Data Protection Authority (DPA) more authority to address human rights concerns because it fails to include any additional funding or human resources to enable the DPA to fulfil the new tasks successfully.

The report highlights the concerns over the difficulties with public consultations during the legislative process. The report acknowledges that the creation of a single online access point has improved public consultation processes but despite regulatory impact assessments (RIA) and public consultations being a mandatory part of the legislative process, stakeholders claim that they are not conducted systematically and that holding public consultations is not a consistent practice across the ministries. The number of important rulings from the European Court of Human Rights that are still pending implementation is another important issue brought up. According to the report, more judgments are pending implementation as of January 2023 than in 2022.

Finally, the report raises concerns about the country's shrinking civic space. The RoL report goes into great detail about three decrees introduced between October 2022 and January 2023. The report also highlights the Council of Europe's concerns about these decrees, claiming that they may limit the freedom and space of civil society organisations (CSOs). Stakeholders have also raised concerns regarding attacks on CSOs, including smear campaigns and assaults on human rights defenders, which compromise the work carried out by CSOs.

Recommendations

The report provides in-depth recommendations to Italy on the country's rule of law. The proposed recommendations in the 2023 report are:

• Italy should continue its efforts to improve digitalisation for criminal courts and prosecutors’ offices. 
• Italy should adopt thorough lobbying regulations, and guidelines related to conflicts of interest and create a functional lobbying register.
• Italy should continue its efforts to establish a National Human Rights Institution.
• Italy should continue the legislative process of amending and adding protections against defamation, professional confidentiality, and journalistic sources to protect journalists and media personnel according to European standards.
• Italy should establish a single electronic register for party and campaign financial data. It should also promptly and effectively address the practice of directing funds to parties through political foundations and groups.