Introduction
Safety in Italy has been a challenge in Italy. Organized crimes range from
corporate crime, Neapolitan Camorra and mafia. The violence is sometimes
racial and affects Italian citizens. In major cities where people are
overcrowding and at parking lot, crimes such as pick pocketing and handbag
snatching. Other overcrowded places include the bus stop and railway
station in public places. Thieves in the streets work in groups of two or more
people. Some pose as beggars and as good Samaritans who are willing to
assist.
Carjacking and theft of small things at the car park, traffic lights stop or
when traffic is slow. Some of the criminals inform you that you have a flat tire
and in the process their counterparts steal from your car. Rape reports are
common where most victims report being alone in the streets.
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Reports of terrorism in other parts of the world have caused Italy to heighten
security measures and deployment. Some of the criminals use a razor to
make a slit at the bottom of a hand bag and empty the contents when in
public transport. Another form of crime is corruption and bribery involving
the politicians and government officials.
Mechanisms to fight forms of crime in Italy
Organized crimes occur when three or more persons in structured groups
engage in a serious crime(s) or offences to obtain financial or material
benefits as a result. This part will focus on how the organized crimes could
be dealt with, referring to the concept of rule of law, the changes introduced
to the inquisitorial criminal justice system in Italy and the rule of law
enforcement agencies in the fight against Mafia.
The role of rule of law in fighting organized crimes
According to Tamanaha, the constitutional court terminated immunity
granted to highest government officials. The immunity protects the highest
level from malice related to politics. In Italy the rule of law is applied within a
specified time. Consequently, politicians seeking to clear their names when
implicated in crime tend to facilitate the court process to clear their name.
The constitutions state that the law applies to all citizens equally.
Concept of rule of law refers to the application of the legal framework as
stipulated by the government. It dictates the acceptable contact within a
specified region and should apply to all citizens with the specific region. Law
is considered supreme and is independent from the judiciary. The rule of law
is associated with justice, fairness, protection, safeguarding of rights and
punishment of offenders.
Sicilian Mafia is categorized as one of the criminal groups known for
trafficking arms and radioactive materials. They are also involved in drug
deals, drug trafficking and money laundering. It is organized and highly
structured. A devastating revelation in the fight against organized crime is
the role of politics in the fight against crime.
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Laws regulating criminal behavior either directly or indirectly have been
implemented. The laws address local and international crimes committed by
the mafia. Anti-mafia law was introduced in 1982 following General Chiesa
assassination. The law described the activities of the group as unlawful.
The group manipulated public authorities to control and gain favor from the
activities of the organizations. The law gave the government official the
authority to fight against the activities of the group. Stern actions against
money laundering and collaborations with government officers have been
taken in into account. Kidnapping, robbery and extortion for monetary gain
were announced illegal in 1990 through a Penal code (Commanding Heights
2007).
Laws that adjust financial organization transaction, regulate exchange of
information and limit the use of cash in transactions have been adopted.
Reinvestment of money obtained illegally was considered unlawful. In 1991,
prisoners convicted for committing serious crimes were prevented from
obtaining limited liberty. The objective of enacting the laws was to
discourage criminal operations in Italy as well as across the borders (United
Nations, 2007).
The role of law enforcement agencies in the fight against Mafia
There have been major policies put in place to fight Mafia and other
organized crimes in Italy. Since 1990s, policy making and law enforcement
communities have played a significant role in the fight against mafia.
Following the success of these law enforcement communities, the major
organized crimes like Sicilian Cosa Nostra were put in serious crisis but more
need to be done since the organized crimes are still taking place.
For the last over 15 years, there has been tremendous in dealing the
organized crimes in Italy. The first part of 1990s reported witnessed great
success in the fight against organized crimes. This success is however not
recognized and therefore the conclusion is made that the anti-mafia fight
slowed down in the period. The most members of law enforcement
communities, the NGOs fighting against mafia and other stakeholders felt
that the anti-mafia fight has weakened and slowed down from mid-1990s.
This portrayed the mafia organizations as being very powerful. The judicial
fight against the mafia did not win popular and political support. However,
there are some anti mafia policies which are that are implemented by the
criminal justice system. They provide for the criminal procedural law that is
used in dealing in organized crime cases and they became popular in the
21st century.
These policies empowered the anti mafia actions carried out by police forces,
prosecutors and courts in the attempt to curb the crime. The substantial law
enforcement achievements of these law enforcement groups were facilitated
by a stable legislative and institutional policy framework that was instituted
to curb mafia and organized crimes. The legislative and institutions
innovations that took place in 1990s played a great role in this success.
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For instance, there was a formal policy, referred to as collaboratori e
testimony giustizia which evidenced the reality of the fight against organized
crimes. This policy was meant to provide the witnesses of organized crimes
the required protection during and after witnessing. The defectors from
organized crimes are also given special sanctioning and penitentiary benefits
due to providing an avenue to end organized crimes. The financial assistance
was also made available to them and they could also change identity area of
residence with assistance.
The bill also included a policy called Servizio Centrale di Protezione which
was meant to provide security to the witnesses and also ensure they have
eventual custody where necessary.
Another major institutional innovation the Direzione Investigative Antimafia
which was meant to ensure there is no fierce competition among the police
forces which would hamper the operations and the implementation of the
policies. This policy was introduced in 1991 by the decree law No. 345/1991.
Another policy was DIA staff whose main aim was to ensure that the
intelligence activities that targets organized crimes are well coordinated and
implemented so that investigations are conducted effectively concerning
mafia and their related felonies. It, however, did not achieve the goal it was
initially intended to achieve. The opposition of the other police forces (Polizia
di Stato, Arma dei Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza) rendered it impossible
for DIA to perform its duties. It has, as a result, become a competitor in the
overcrowded law enforcement area.
The other innovation is veritable emergency measures which only existed
initially as a decree law. It was later converted into law in 1992 august. This
bill gave more responsibilities to DIA and judiciary police in gathering more
information regarding the organized crimes. It would also determine the
procedure to be employed during anti mafia trials.
The bill had another provision that was meant to provide the detention
system for the leaders of Mafia associations. The early 1990s marked the
outset of indirect anti mafia policies that were not directly linked to the
procedural criminal law but their nature was that of administrative and civil
law.
The enforcement agencies are supported by the law to take measures
against the unlawful group. The laws and measures are introduced when one
of the significant government officials or a massacre has occurred. The legal
system has not been capable of preventing and controlling the mafia from
committing serious crimes. The mafia is armed and uses non recognized
private means of committing crime.
People are called for to maintain their safety by taking responsibility of their
belonging and contact. People should avoid carrying their wallet of valuable
such as expensive cameras visibly (Aymard & Giarrizzo).
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Women can carry their bags under their arms with the side that opens facing
the body. Money, credit cards, legal documents for traveling, contacts and
valuables should be kept in different places. Drivers should lock the car with
the central lock and keep the valuable belonging out of sight. When touring,
it is important to observe the Italian law as well as the culture. People are
advised not to be in possession of illegal drugs.
Observing the culture by avoiding nudity, taking photos during the mass and
being observant in the catholic dominated region. Women should not walk
alone in isolated places. When not sure, one should ask what places are
desolate then avoid them. Being prepared and confident is important.
The changes introduced to the inquisitorial criminal justice system
in Italy and the fight against rule organized crimes
The Criminal Code that is in place in Italy, referred to as Rocco Code, was
made in 1930 and has been undergoing serious changes ever since. It is one
of the codes of European countries that were greatly inspired by Napoleonic
that had gained prominence in 1810 and the Code of Williams of 1870.
For authoritarian countries, the code was considered very severe and
therefore, some changes had to be made. The death sentence was initially
abandoned by Criminal Code of 1889 but was reintroduced in 1926, thus
making the Rocco Code very severe. The criminal justice system of Italy has
for a long time used inquisitorial procedural model in dealing with organized
crimes.
From early 19th century, the criminal procedure in Italy was run using the
using a French model known as the 1808 French code d’instruction
criminelle. It was not until 1865 that Italy was able to launch the first code of
criminal procedure that they were supposed to use when dealing with crimes
in the country. Later, in 1913, another code was promulgated. The two codes
drew a lot from the Napoleonic code.
Although both Codes were influenced by the Napoleonic code, the 1913 code
was the one that was greatly influenced. Using this code, proceedings for any
crime were done in two distinct phases. The initial stage was known as the
‘investigative stage’ also known as ‘instruzione’. The stage that followed this
was known as the trial stage or ‘dibattimento’.
A lot of time was spent during the investigative stage. The judge who
oversees the proceedings during the investigative stage is endowed with a
lot of power. The public prosecutor is the one who recommends to the judge
whether there is need for more investigation for the truth to be ascertained.
The investigative judge then listens to the witnesses and legal experts in the
process of ascertaining the truth (Ministero dell’Interno 2005). It is also
possible for the investigative judge to call the accused and question them
concerning the case at hand. When all evidence gathered during this initial
stage is documented in the investigative dossier, it would be presented to
the trial judge for them to make a ruling. The ruling would be made based on
the evidence that was gathered and documented during the first phase.
Initially, the defence was not allowed to take part in the investigative phase.
However, this was changed in the 1970’2. The changes allowed the defence
to participate in the investigative phase. Therefore, the defence was able to
challenge any information that they thought was inaccurate.
The reason why a lot of time was spent during the investigative phase was
because it was the period when evidence was gathered and presented.
During the trial phase, it was not common for any additional evidence to be
presented since all the available evidence was presented during the
investigative phase.
The trial phase was used to give a ruling based on the available evidence.
This means that the trial phase was normally shorter than the investigative
phase. Even if witnesses would occasionally be called during the trial phase,
they were merely going to confirm what was in the investigation dossier not
to give new information. The inquisitorial profile of this system of justice was
mainly based on the capacity of the trial judge to rely entirely on the
investigative dossier.
This code continued to be used until 1988. There was a need for a new code
to be promulgated and the 1930 code to be discarded. This was because
despite the many amendments that it had undergone, it was still found to
have some flaws especially due to its inquisitorial nature.
From the inquisitorial system, Italy adopted an accusatorial system of
criminal justice. The difference between the two systems is brought about by
the nature of the accuser. In the accusatorial system, the accuser is a private
citizen while in the inquisitorial system; the accuser is a public officer.
Moreover, an inquisitorial system is characterized by lack of distinction
between the judge and the prosecutor. However, most of the systems using
the inquisitorial system no longer fail to distinguish between the prosecutor
and the judge.
In the accusatorial process, there is a clear distinction between the
investigative phase and the trial phase. This means that during the trial, the
verdict is not passed based on only the information that was gathered during
the investigative stage. Evidence is usually produced and presented in court
for it to be discussed and analyzed in details. The Italian of 1930 was initially
strictly inquisitorial but later changed to a system that was almost similar to
accusatorial.
The process for reforming the criminal procedure started in 1960. Renowned
scholars were involved in this process. The initial reform code was written in
1978. However, it was not implemented. The second reform code was
drafted in 1988. This time, the code was successful and was implemented.
This code came with a lot of revolution.
It was influenced by the adversarial system practised in Anglo-American
countries. Some of the revolutions that were brought include the removal of
the investigative judge, there was to be a preliminary inquiry that was to be
conducted by the two parties, a cross examination during trial and
presentation of evidence was a must and the judge was not allowed to
introduce evidence during trial. These were just some of the changes
introduced to the old system.
The trial phase was also made distinct from the phase of preliminary
investigation. To prevent the judge from being biased in their ruling, the
results of preliminary investigations were not presented during trial.
Investigative files as well as narration by those conducting the investigations
in a case were not allowed during the trial.
The separation of the trial phase from the investigation phase ensured that
no investigative files were present during the trial. Moreover, the police were
not allowed to present their testimony, particularly concerning their findings
during the investigative phase, at the trial. After the investigations are over,
the prosecutor is allowed to file a charge.
The charge is carefully reviewed by a judge during preliminary hearings. If
the accused is sent to trial, the judge compiles the necessary information for
the trial judge. The file compiled for the trial judge contains some of the
information taken from the prosecutor’s files. This information is usually
evidence that cannot be reproduced in court objectively. The preliminary
judge therefore, collects only information that they are allowed by the code
to access and compiles it for the trial judge.
Conclusion
The trial judge is prohibited from looking at the prosecutor’s files to avoid
any bias during ruling. The 1988 code also allows for hearsay testimony to
be produced in court by witnesses other than the police who were involved in
the investigative phase. These restrictions helped in having a just ruling
since the judge is isolated from any information that was collected during the
investigative phase. Therefore, the judge is forced to rely entirely on the
evidence presented in court for them to make a ruling.