Category Archives: Treatment of Aliens

The Enforcement of Arrest Warrants Issued by the International Criminal Court: Between the Duty to Cooperate and Realpolitik

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In late 2024 and early 2025 the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued several arrest warrants in the context of politically sensitive investigations, including those regarding the ongoing armed conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine.[1] Some of these decisions concern alleged perpetrators holding high-level political positions in States that are close allies of Italy, such as Israel. Furthermore, in January 2025, Italy was requested by the Court to execute on its territory an arrest warrant issued against General Osema Almasri Najeem in the context of the investigation in Libya. Italy’s recent behaviour in relation to arrest warrants in the situations in Palestine and Libya is indicative of a shift from the traditionally supportive attitude to a more cautious (and lees cooperative) one in its relations with international criminal tribunals. This contribution analyses the Italian Government’s conduct, which shows a discrepancy between the rhetorical support for the ICC and the lack of actual cooperation in the execution of its requests.

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Italy’s Migration Policy in 2024: Pursuing the Externalisation Path

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In 2024, Italy’s migration policy continued to be heralded by the Italian Government and parliamentary majority as a success and a model for other countries, while being vehemently criticised by opposition parties as well as civil society organisations active in the area of the protection of migrants. Even though Italy’s policy in this field has been wide-ranging in its acts and effects, the externalisation of migration management is arguably one of its guiding principles. Albeit not a legal notion, externalisation – by referring to a multitude of practices of controlling and managing migration beyond a State’s borders – raises compelling legal issues.[1] Therefore, it is not surprising that the Italian Government aimed to justify its outward-looking approach, affecting virtually all phases of the migration process, on a variety of legal grounds.

Starting with the departure of migrants, references to a supposed “right not to migrate” were again abundant in the Italian diplomatic and parliamentary practice of 2024. This has been a leitmotiv of the current Italian Government and one of the theoretical premises and legal backbones of Piano Mattei, namely Italy’s flagship plan for investment in and cooperation with Africa. Among other instances, the Italian President of the Council of Ministers, Ms. Giorgia Meloni, referred to this right in her address before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the Summit of the Future, on 23 September 2024. In connection with Piano Mattei and its approach (“neither paternalistic nor charitable or predatory”), Ms. Meloni stated that “[Piano Mattei] is our recipe to promote the development of a continent too often undervalued, build its stability, and finally guarantee one right that until now has been denied to too many young people – the right not to have to emigrate”.

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The Arrest and Detention of Ilaria Salis in Hungary

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On 13 February 2023, the Italian Embassy in Hungary was informed that Ilaria Salis, an Italian national, had been arrested in Budapest two days earlier. She had been taken into custody on charges of armed group violence for assaulting far-right activists during a demonstration. She was accused of being part of organised groups that allegedly planned to attack people present at the demonstration. The Embassy was informed that Ms. Salis was being held in a Budapest prison and that the prosecution was seeking a prison sentence of 11 years.

In 2024, while expressing concern for non-compliance with fair trial and minimum standards on detention, Italy initially only stressed the need to respect Hungary’s sovereignty and the impartiality of its judiciary.[1] On 29 January 2024, the Minister of Justice, Mr. Carlo Nordio, emphasised that “the Hungarian judiciary is sovereign” and that Italy could only take action through diplomatic channels to improve the conditions of detention.[2] Further statements by both Mr. Nordio and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr. Antonio Tajani, underlined that the principle of judicial sovereignty of a State would prevent interference in the conduct of the trial and Ms. Salis’s detention status.[3]

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International Standards on Criminal Punishment: Italy’s Position Between Progressive Tendencies and Lack of Legal Clarity

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In 2022, the Italian Government addressed the issue of criminal punishment on various occasions, thus shedding light on the interpretation of its features in accordance with relevant international standards. The resulting picture is a composite one, anchored in human rights and directed at expanding the reach of international law to an area traditionally considered to be within the reserved domain of States – but not always on the basis of clear legal arguments.

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The Scope of the Immunity of United Nations Personnel

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On 15 July 2020, Carmine Mario Paciolla, an Italian citizen working with the United Nations (UN) Verification Mission in Colombia, was found dead in his home in San Vicente del Caguán, in the Department of Caquetá, Colombia. The day after Paciolla’s death, a team of the Special Investigation Unit of the UN Department of Safeguard and Security collected all his personal belongings and cleaned up the apartment where he was living. No official of the General Prosecutor of Colombia or of the Colombian judicial police was present at this time. The staff of the UN Verification Mission was reminded that they were under an obligation to maintain confidentiality.[1] The Italian judicial authorities have, since August 2020, sought the cooperation of the UN to clarify the facts of the case and establish any responsibility.[2]

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The Report of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on the Death of Giulio Regeni

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On 1 December 2021, the Chamber of Deputies adopted the final report of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (hereinafter, Commission) on the death of Giulio Regeni.[1] The Commission had been established by the same Chamber on 30 April 2019 to, among other things, “gather the elements necessary to clarify all the responsibilities and circumstances that led to the death of Giulio Regeni”.[2]

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Migration Policy and Management under the “Conte 1” Government

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The fight against “irregular” migration to Italy featured prominently in the election manifesto of the Lega (League – a right-wing political party) and was incorporated in the coalition agreement concluded between the two governing parties after the 4 March 2018 general election, namely the League and the Movimento 5 Stelle (Five Star Movement). Accordingly, on 5 June 2018, the President of the Council of Ministers, Mr Giuseppe Conte, outlined the approach on migration of the newly formed Italian Government during his first speech before the Senate of the Republic (9th Meeting, XVIII Legislature):

It is clear to everyone that the management of migratory flows as implemented to date has failed. Europe allowed – we must emphasize it – selfish positions by Member States, which ended up placing the burden, which should have been shared, on border States, first and foremost on Italy. That is why we will vigorously demand to go beyond the Dublin Regulation, so as to ensure actual compliance with the principle of equitable responsibility-sharing and implement automatic mechanisms for the mandatory relocation of asylum seekers. […]

We want asylum procedures to be well-established and swift, also with a view to more effectively ensuring that the rights [of asylum seekers] are guaranteed and that they do not live in uncertainty. […]

We must also re-organize the reception system and make it efficient with a view to ensuring the transparent use of public funds and preventing any infiltration by organized crime. Should there be no grounds for the stay [of migrants in Italy], we will take action to make repatriation procedures effective and, at the European level, to compel third States willing to conclude cooperation agreements with any EU Member States to ratify bilateral agreements for the management of migratory flows.

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The Venezuelan Crisis in the Italian Parliamentary Practice of 2017

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Popular protests have been taking place in Venezuela at least since 2014: their targets are the Government’s crackdown on civil and political liberties and the grave economic crisis afflicting the country, which has inter alia resulted in skyrocketing inflation and a persistent lack of essential goods.

In December 2015, parliamentary elections were held and won by the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), a coalition of parties opposing President Nicolás Maduro and his United Socialist Party (PSUV). In the following months, President Maduro declared the state of emergency and assumed more powers, while the MUD started to collect signatures for a referendum to remove him from office before the natural end of his term. In October 2016, however, the National Electoral Council suspended the referendum process; new demonstrations against this decision took place.

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The Government’s Position Vis-à-vis Egypt on the Killing of the Italian National Giulio Regeni

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At the beginning of 2016, the Italian national Giulio Regeni was murdered in Cairo in unclear circumstances. This soon became a major issue in the foreign policy of Italy and a cause of tension in its relations with Egypt. The event is here illustrated through the accounts given by the members of the Italian Government themselves, on the occasion of official reports to the Parliament. At the same time, some important political and legal aspects are also briefly addressed.

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The Under-Secretary to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers on migratory flows and human trafficking

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CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES, XVII LEGISLATURE, 485th MEETING, 18 SEPTEMBER 2015.

On 18 September 2015, during a meeting of the Chamber of Deputies, the Under-Secretary of State to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Mr Gianclaudio Bressa, answered a parliamentary question on the opening of humanitarian channels for migratory flows as well as possible measures to curb human trafficking. Mr Bressa stressed the need to achieve a European right to asylum and described the measures adopted by the Italian government. He stated:

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