Rule of Law Challenges 

in Italy
The Italian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe hosted the launch
conference for the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) on April 11 in Venice. The 12
Principles that make up good democratic governance are interconnected and work best when fully
incorporated into local government practice. In conjunction with the Italian Association of the Council of
European Municipalities and Regions (AICCRE), the Centre of Expertise for Good Governance applied
the ELoGE Benchmark for the first time at the national level in Italy. The interventions sparked
discussion about the value of sound democratic governance for Italian local governments and provided
Italian mayors and local officials with the chance to become familiar with the ELoGE benchmark and
measurement methodology. The foundation of ELoGE is the self-evaluation of towns by elected council
members, residents, and local administrators.

Municipalities agree to monitor their performance against each of the 12 Principles by using the
Benchmark, and they also provide residents with a platform to evaluate the effectiveness of their local
government. All of the communities taking part in the ELoGE program's authorities and residents will
have a better grasp of strong democratic governance, which will help Italy's governance practices overall.

Italy ranked 25th out of 31 nations in the European Union, European Free Trade Association, and
North America area, with its total rule of law score increasing by less than 1% from last year's Index.
Denmark ranks first out of 139 nations internationally in the Index for the European Union, European
Free Trade Association, and North America, followed by Norway and Finland. This year, the Index now
includes seven more nations from the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, and North
America: Cyprus, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, and the Slovak Republic. In the recent
year, the economies of 17 out of 24 nations in the European Union, the European Free Trade Association,
and North America shrank, with 11 of those nations also seeing a loss in the year before.
The most prominent rule of law challenges are related to (1) the justice system; (2) media freedom and
pluralism and (3) anti-corruption efforts.

Justice System 

The Quality and Efficiency of the Italian Justice System: Italy still struggles with how long
legal procedures take, thus to meet its obligations under the RRP, it must cut the disposition time in all
civil justice cases by 25% and in all criminal justice cases by the end of 2026. The Parliament passed
enabling laws in late 2021 to address issues with efficiency, with the goal of lowering the volume of new
cases and streamlining the legal process. The European Commission takes notice of the new rules aimed
at improving the effectiveness of the criminal justice system, such as those that establish maximum
deadlines for finishing trials and permit their dismissal if those deadlines are not fulfilled.
Informal Influence of Professional Associations: The Italian judiciary is comparably shielded
from political pressure since judges elect more judge-members of the High Council for the Judiciary
(CSM) than non-judge members chosen by parliament. There have been demands for greater transparency
in CSM decision-making, nevertheless, following claims that the CSM made selection decisions based on
unofficial agreements among judicial organizations. As a result, the Italian Parliament enacted a new law
that changed the election process and increased the number of CSM members. This modification intended
to improve the CSM's independence from judicial institutions, but some aspects—like the Ministry of
Justice's discretionary power to design electoral colleges in advance of the elections—were seen as
jeopardizing CSM autonomy.
Changes to the system of professional evaluation of judges: The CSM forewarned that efficiency-
focused legislative measures for 2022 would heighten internal judicial hierarchy and threaten judges'
independence. Giving non-judge members of judicial boards (lawyers) voting privileges in the rating of
judges might create conflicts of interest since the professional evaluation of judges would be dependent
on achieving expected results established by court presidents. The guidelines implementing the new law,
according to the Ministry of Justice, include various measures to reduce the possibility of conflicts of
interest.
Low levels of perceived independence of judiciary: Only 37% of the general public and 40% of
businesses, according to Eurobarometer 2022, believe that judicial independence is "fair" or "very good".
For the general public (34% in 2021 and 25% in 2016) and for businesses (29% in 2021 and 24% in
2016), these numbers were significantly lower than prior years.
Delays in the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights: As of the
first of January 2022, Italy had 58 leading decisions (decisions addressing systemic or structural
concerns) that needed to be implemented. The 25-year-old landmark ruling addresses the excessive
duration of administrative and criminal processes. The inability to implement court orders and criminal
prosecutions for free speech on topics of public concern are addressed in other key judgments. Italy's
implementation record indicates a "very serious problem" according to the classification suggested by the
European Implementation Network and Democracy Reporting International. Hungary, Bulgaria, and
Romania are more nations that fall under this group.
Media Freedom
According to the Media Plurality Monitor (MPM) 2022, the market for online platforms and high
levels of media ownership concentration pose the biggest threats to media plurality in Italy. To ensure
the independence of the PSM, the study emphasized Italy's inability to adequately protect public service
media (PSM) from political interference and recommended revising the election of members to the
governing body (of the RAI - Radiotelevisione Italiana) and the financing structure. The protection of
journalistic sources and the framework law on the professional secrecy of journalists both remain
insufficient, according to the European Commission's 2022 Rule of Law Report, which also called
attention to the rising number of physical assaults, threats, and other forms of intimidation against
journalists. The European Court of Human Rights consistently ruled Italy to be in breach of journalists'
freedom of speech about jail sentences for defamation, which is a positive development. The
Constitutional Court verdicts effectively banned prison sentences for slander. Insufficient legislative
protections against SLAPPs (strategic litigation against public participation) were addressed in the MPM
report on Italy. To stop the chilling impact of criminal and civil litigation on journalists, the study
advocated anti-SLAPP regulations as well as the development of cooperative instruments and money to
help journalists against SLAPPs.

References:
https://democracy-reporting.org/en/office/EU/publications/italys-election-and-the-rule-of-law
https://worldjusticeproject.org/sites/default/files/documents/Italy_2021%20WJP%20Rule%20of%20Law
%20Index%20Country%20Press%20Release.pdf