30 October 2007

The Package on Security

Text:
The Council of Ministers is about to approve an important measure to tackle criminality, the every day stuff of the poor wretch who mugs an old lady, as well as the organised criminality or that derived from terrorism.
There’ll also be regulations passed to reform the criminal proceedings so as to make trials faster so that it will be difficult to get off scot-free with the “prescrizione” {time limit for a trial}. Just remember the famous ex-Cirielli law that halves the trial times, but doesn’t halve the trial activity, just the time limit for concluding a trial.
Today the citizen feels a sense of insecurity and is living through the drama of criminality. As you know, when important decisions are being taken for the country, they can be put into action by means of a draft law or by a legal decree. The legal decree is an urgent measure by the Government that becomes active immediately and is then ratified by Parliament. On the other hand, the draft law is a proposal that first has to be discussed by Parliament, and it has a much longer time frame.
I’ll explain what this so-called “Security Package” is all about, so that you can see why I think it should be put into action immediately with a decree.
There are four draft laws:
the first package is about measures relating to the fight against organised crime ;
the second package is about measures relating to the fight against terrorism ;
the third is about urban safety ;
the last is about the so-called “certainty of the penalty”, and especially the reform of the criminal code in relation to crimes that are particularly alarming.
Since the citizens need safety straight away, I say that this draft law, that I support, at least for the most important part, must be approved with a decree.
I’m not just saying this to you: I’ve already said that to the President of the Council and to the Minister of the Interior in a letter dated 25 October in which I say that I give my full support to the package and I ask for it to approved with a decree, at least for the most important topics, for example, the database of fingerprints for immigrants coming into italy or the DNA database for those who commit serious crime. Measures that I think would be appropriate to extend to Italians: for those who have nothing to hide, I can’t see problems of privacy.
I’ve also asked the President of the Council and the entire Council of Ministers that certain regulations should be inserted into this package like the elimination of the ex-Cirielli or the serving of the sentence after the first verdict: it often happens that hardened criminals, paedophiles, and rapists are released because the trial is not over in time. This is not right.
The judge must be given the possibility to apply the sentence after the first trial, if there is overwhelming proof.
I have also asked for the review of false accounting. If it’s possible with this stuff to ask for 3 years in prison for the windscreen cleaners we can’t just punish with a fine one who has stolen millions or billions of Euro.
What is written down is clear.
Let it be clear, I am not giving the government an ultimatum.
I am giving an indication, but these are measures that are so important, that rather than not do them, it’s better to approve them with a legal decree. I’m not against these measures that in fact I am backing to the full and I would like them to come into affect immediately.
If that doesn’t happen, my commitment and that of Italia dei Valori is that discussions in Parliament start as soon as possible and that the package becomes law as soon as possible.”

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Justice