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Italy in the Council of EuropeKey points· Italy was one of the ten founding members of the Council of Europe in 1949. · Alcide De Gasperi (at that time, Prime Minister of Italy) was one of the founding fathers of the Council of Europe. · Italy has ratified 118 conventions of the Council of Europe and has signed another 44 in the process of ratification. · Italy ratified the European Convention on Human Rights on 26 October 1955. · Italy had one Secretary General: Lodovico Benvenuti (15 September 1957 – 15 March 1964), and two Deputy Secretaries General of the Council of Europe: Sforzino Sforza (1 October 1968 – 28 December 1977) and Gaetano Adinolfi (1 June 1978 – 31 May 1993). The current Deputy Secretary General, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio has double nationality (Dutch and Italian). · Italy had one President of the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE): Giuseppe Vedovato (1972-75). SummaryThe key objectives of the Council of Europe, the oldest pan-European organisation, are the protection of human rights, the rule of law and democracy, and the defence of a common cultural heritage. The organisation has 47 member states and has created more than 200 conventions, many of which have become national law across the continent. The Italian government and parliamentary institutions have actively participated in the political life of the Council since the very beginning. The decision-making body of the organisation is the Committee of Ministers, which adopts conventions and makes recommendations to the member states and supervises the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. It comprises the Ministers of Foreign Affairs or their permanent representatives, who are usually Ambassadors in Strasbourg. Currently, foreign minister Franco Frattini represents Italy in the Committee of Ministers. Since October 2008, the Permanent Representative of Italy to the Council of Europe is Sergio Busetto. After adoption by the Committee of Ministers, conventions are opened for signature by states which must ratify them to become legally binding. The last convention that Italy ratified was the Council of Europe Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, concerning the abolition of the death penalty (in March 2009). The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is composed of representatives coming from parliaments from 47 member states. The texts adopted by PACE – recommendations, resolutions and opinions – serve as guidelines for the Committee of Ministers, national governments, parliaments and political parties. There are four PACE sessions a year, each lasting one week. Italy is represented in the Parliamentary Assembly by a delegation of 18 representatives and 18 substitutes. Currently, Luigi Vitali (EPP/CD) is the head of the delegation. Luca Volontè is the Chairman of the EPP/CD group at the Assembly since January 2010. Italian members of PACE are elected among parliamentarians of the Republic of Italy. Italy is represented in the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe by a delegation of 18 representatives and 18 substitutes. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe – currently Thorbjørn Jagland (Norway) – is elected for a period of five years and is responsible for strategic planning, management of the programme of activities and the budget of the organisation. The Council of Europe's ordinary budget for 2010 is almost 211 million euro, of which Italy contributes € 24 874 163.33 (11.7872 %). The European Court of Human Rights’ role is to ensure that states which have ratified the European Convention on Human Rights observe their obligations. It examines complaints lodged by individuals or states and where it finds that a member state has violated any right or guarantee, it delivers a binding judgment. The Court is composed of one judge from each member state. They are elected by PACE. The judge for Italy to the European Court of Human Rights is Guido Raimondi, who was elected by the PACE for a six-year mandate on January 26th, 2010. Several independent bodies of the Council of Europe monitor compliance of member states with the human right standards of the organisation. The Commissioner for Human Rights is appointed to promote the development, the awareness of, and the respect for human rights in the member states of the Council of Europe. The current Commissioner is Thomas Hammarberg (Sweden), who took up his position in April 2006. The Commissioner visited Italy three times, the last one in January 2009. The report on this visit, published in April 2009, denounces the increasing racism and xenophobia in Italy towards Romas and Sintis, and highlights their poor standards of living: the Commissioner is worried about the rights of asylum seekers in Italy in view of some legislations (e.g. various decrees of emergency state, and penalization for people renting to migrants in irregular situation), and encouraged positive measures like the national programme on non-accompanied foreign minors, or the 2008 law regarding an educational programme including a multicultural approach. European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) visits places of detention (e.g. prisons and juvenile detention centres, police stations, holding centres for immigration detainees and psychiatric hospitals), to see how persons deprived of their liberty are treated and, if necessary, to recommend improvements to the states. Its members are independent experts. The Italian member, Mauro Palma, is also the current President of the CPT. He is a Mathematician and the Founder and Honorary President of Antigone (an association which promotes rights and safeguards in the criminal justice system). He is also the Chairman of the Italian Prison Observatory and Human Rights’ Advisor to the Italian Parliament and the Lazio Regional Assembly. He will hold his post until December 2011. The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) combats racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance. ECRI’s action covers all measures necessary to fight violence, discrimination and prejudice on the grounds of race, colour, language, religion, nationality and national or ethnic origin. So far, ECRI has issued three reports on the situation in Italy, the last one dating back to May 2006. Vitaliano Esposito is the current Italian member of ECRI. Italy is also part to some agreements such as the Council of Europe Development Bank, the European Pharmacopoeia, The North-South Lisbon Centre (the Chair of the Executive Council is Ms Deborah Bergamini, in charge since 1st April 2009), the European Audiovisual Observatory, the European Commission for Democracy Through Law - Venice Commission (whose President is Gianni Buquicchio since December 2009, and where Italy is represented by Mr Sergio Bartole and Mr Guido Neppi Modona), and the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO, Mr Calogero Piscitello is the Head of Italian Delegation), among others. Questions and AnswersWhich Council of Europe conventions has Italy ratified? Italy has ratified 118 Council of Europe conventions, among them the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the European Convention on Social and Medical Assistance, the European Cultural Convention, the European Convention on Extradition, the European Convention on the Adoption of Children, the European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage, the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, the European Agreement on the Abolition of Visas for Refugees, the European Convention on the Repatriation of Minors, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, the European Convention on the Legal Status of Migrant Workers, the European Convention on the Exercise of Children's Rights, the European Social Charter (revised) and the Convention on Cybercrime. Which conventions has Italy signed but not yet ratified? Italy has signed and in the process of ratifying 45 Council of Europe conventions, among them the European Convention on the International Validity of Criminal Judgments, the European Convention on the Transfer of Proceedings in Criminal Matter, the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the European Code of Social Security (Revised), the Protocol No. 12 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the Criminal and Civil Law Convention on Corruption, the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. How many times has CPT visited Italy? Since 1992, when the first CPT delegation visited Italy, it has carried out nine regular visits which have produced reports and recommendations on actions the Italian authorities should take to comply with the human rights’ standards of the Council of Europe. The last CPT visit to Italy was in June 2010, and particular attention was paid to the provision of health care in prisons, the policies adopted to reduce the incidence of suicides and acts of self-harm in prison, the transfer of responsibility from the Prison Administration to the National Health Service, and finally the system the Italian authorities have put in place to investigate cases of alleged ill-treatment of arrested and/or detained persons. All the reports are available here. What were the conclusions of the ECRI’s last report on Italy? In its last report in December 2005, ECRI said that progress has been made in a number of fields highlighted in the previous report (April 2002). As part of the changes introduced since then to antidiscrimination legislation, the Italian authorities have established a specialised body to combat racial discrimination, which assists victims and raise awareness of this phenomenon among the general public. Anti-discrimination legislation has been applied in some cases in the fields of employment and housing. Monitoring of school pupils’ attainment broken down by nationality has been introduced to assess imbalances. However, a number of recommendations made in ECRI’s second report have not been implemented, or have only been partially implemented. The use of racist and xenophobic discourse in politics has intensified and targets in particular non-EU citizens, Roma, Sinti and Muslims. Members of these groups have continued to experience prejudice and discrimination across a wide range of areas. Immigration legislation has made the situation of many non-EU citizens more precarious, and its implementation, notably in respect of immigrants without legal status, has resulted in the exposure of these persons to a higher risk of human rights’ violations. In the absence of a national policy to improve the situation of Roma and Sinti and fight the prejudice and discrimination they face, many members of these groups continue to live in a situation of marginalisation and practical segregation from the rest of Italian society. In this report, ECRI recommends that the Italian authorities take further action in a number of areas. These areas include: the need to fine-tune the legal framework against racism and racial discrimination, including through ratification of Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention of Human Rights; the need to ensure the thorough implementation of the existing criminal and civil provisions against racism and racial discrimination, and notably penal legislation against incitement to racial hatred and racially-motivated offences; the need to ensure thorough respect for the immigrants’ human rights, including those intercepted at sea or apprehended on entering Italy illegally. In this report, ECRI also recommends that the Italian authorities take measures against the use of racist and xenophobic discourse in politics. It recommends that they improve their systems for monitoring racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic incidents. How many judgments related to Italy did the ECHR deliver in 2009? Of the 1,625 judgments delivered by the Court in 2009, 68 were related to Italy. In 61 of them the Court found at least one violation of the convention, and in 3 it found no violations. Since November 1998, when the Court started to function full-time, it has delivered 1,865 judgments related to Italy, out of 11,361 judgements: in 1,556 of them at least one violation was found whereas in 48 of them it found no violations. *** Delegation at PACEChairman Luigi Vitali (EPP/CD) and two Vice-Chairpersons: Federico Bricolo (EDG) and Andrea Rigoni (ALDE). Two secretaries: Deborah Bergamini (EPP/CD) and Paolo Giarretta (ALDE). Representative members: Roberto Antonione (EPP/CD), Lorenzo Cesa (EPP/CD), Vannino Chiti (ALDE), Gianpaolo Dozzo (EDG), Piero Fassino (SOC), Dario Franceschini (ALDE), Gennaro Malgeri (EPP/CD), Pietro Mercenaro (SOC), Pasquale Nessa (EPP/CD), Giacinto Russo (ALDE), Giacomo Santini (EPP/CD), Giuseppe Saro (EPP/CD) and Giuseppe Valentino (EDG). Substitutes members: Mario Barbi (ALDE), Rossana Boldi (EDG), Patrizia Bugnano (ALDE), Anna Maria Carloni (SOC), Giuseppe Ciarrapico (EPP/CD), Vladimiro Crisafulli (SOC), Marcello Dell’Utri (EPP/CD), Gianni Farina (SOC), Renato Farina (EPP/CD), Giuseppe Galati (EPP/CD), Federica Mogherini Rebesani (SOC), Fiamma Nirenstein (EPP/CD), Maurizio Saia (EPP/CD), Albertina Soliani (ALDE), Giacomo Stucchi (EDG), Oreste Tofani, Luca Volontè (EPP/CD) and Marco Zacchera (EDG). Delegation at the Chamber of Local AuthoritiesChairman Fabio Pellegrini (SOC) (also Vice-President of the Congress and Vice-President of the Chamber of Local Authorities). Representative members: Fernanda Cecchini (SOC), Raffaella Della Bianca (EPP/CD), Angelo Muzio (SOC), Pietro Russo (EPP/CD), Maria Grazia Sassi (EPP/CD) Barbara Toce (SOC), Agnese Ugues (EPP/CD). Substitute members: Filippo Bernocchi (EPP/CD), Enrico Borghi (EPP/CD), Erminio D’Agostino (SOC), Carmela Afrodite Di Monda (SOC), Giuseppe Failla (EPP/CD), Marino Fiasella (NR), Guido Rhodio (EPP/CD) and Luciano Valaguzza (EPP/CD).Delegation at the Chamber of the Regions Representative members: Maria Anna Caronia (EPP/CD), Luciano Caveri (NR), Alessandro Colucci (EPP/CD), Lorenzo Dellai (NR), Angelo Michele Iorio (EPP/CD), Giuseppina Marmo (ILDG), Maria Giuseppina Muzzarelli (SOC), Massimo Pineschi (SOC), Emilia Simonetti (SOC). Substitute members: Fabio Badiali (NR), Luigi De Fanis (NR) Agostino Fragai (SOC), Sabina Kasslater Mur (EPP/CD), Carmen Patrizia Muratore (ILDG), Vitro Norcera (SOC) Mariacristina Spinosa (SOC), Carlo Alberto Tesserin (EPP/CD) and Michelangelo Tripodi (SOC). ContactsStrasbourg: Press office: Giuseppe Zaffuto tel. + 33 (0)3 90 21 56 04) Rome: Press correspondent: Roberto Tumbarello tel. +39 335 69 38 216) Updated: September 2010 |
