Three ways Italy's government is 'undermining the rule of law'

Local Italy

18-03-2025

Italy was singled out as a "dismantler" of democracy in a report published by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties), an international coalition of civil rights organisations.
Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovakia were the other EU countries that "intentionally undermine the rule of law in nearly all aspects," the group said.
Here are three of ways in which the coalition argues PM Giorgia Meloni's government is weakening the rule of law in Italy.
Restricting civil liberties
Freedom of peaceful assembly, a right enshrined in the Italian constitution, has been "dangerously compromised" by the Meloni government, the report said.
A security bill approved by Italy's lower house of parliament in September proposes years-long prison sentences for activists who block traffic and criminalises passive resistance in prisons and detention centres.
If passed, the draft law could have "a devastating impact on fundamental rights, including the rights to peaceful protest," warned Human Rights Watch.
Infringing on press freedom
Italy's state broadcaster RAI has faced "unprecedented levels of political interference" in the past couple of years, putting "unprecedented pressure" on its journalists, the Liberties report noted.
The decision by RAI management last May to abruptly pull an anti-fascist monologue by novelist Antonio Scurati in which he accused Meloni's party of rewriting history sparked widespread outrage and allegations of government censorship.
Meloni and members of her administration have also long faced accusations of trying to silence journalists and intimidate detractors through defamation suits (defamation is a criminal offence in Italy).
In the latest Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, Italy dropped to 46th place - five places lower than in 2023 and behind all other western European countries.
Increased political control over the judiciary
The Meloni administration said last month that it was pushing ahead with a sweeping reform that, if passed, would grant the justice ministry broad powers over prosecutors, potentially increasing government control over the judiciary.
In Italy, judges and prosecutors share a career track and independent governing body that is fiercely resistant to political interference.
Meloni argues that her proposed reform to cut the ties between the two professions - an effort championed unsuccessfully for many years by Silvio Berlusconi - will speed up trials and decrease alleged bias against defendants.
"This will only be harmful. The separation of careers will turn the public prosecutor into a super-police officer, and they will lose the culture of impartiality," Nicola Gratteri, the chief prosecutor in Naples, told Reuters.