The European Commission's 2024 Rule
of Law report on Wednesday expressed concern about a law
recently approved by the government abolishing the crime of
abuse of office.
"In Italy, a new law repealing the offence of abuse of office
and limiting the scope of the offence of trading in influence
could have implications for the detection and investigation of
fraud and corruption," the report said.
Justice Minister Carlo Nordio said it was necessary to scrap the
crime of abuse of office because it was too vague and
discouraged local politicians and civil servants from signing
off on projects due to fears they will end up under
investigation, thus causing "economic damage that affects
citizens".
The Italy chapter of the Rule of Law report said that "the
criminalisation of abuse of office and trading in influence are
part of the international conventions on corruption and are
therefore essential tools for law enforcement and prosecution to
fight corruption.
"Stakeholders have pointed out that abrogating the offence of
abuse of office could lead to lower levels of detecting and
investigating fraud and corruption," it continued.
"Moreover, reducing the scope of the offence of trading in
influence would need to be counterbalanced by stronger lobbying
rules".
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