Delitto di tortura e obblighi internazionali di punizione

In July 2017 the Italian Parliament adopted a new statute on torture with the aim of ensuring respect for the obligation to repress torture provided for bythe UN Convention Against Tortureand Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. An earlier statute, adopted in 1988, was clearly inadequate for the purpose and several UN treaty bodies, including the Committee Against Torture, had criticized Italy for not having provided for a specific offence of torture in its legislation. Also, the European Court of Human Rights had found Italy in violation of the obligation to identify and, if appropriate, adequately repress the perpetrators of acts contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention. The new statute on torture is, however, unsatisfactory in different respects. The definition in newArticle 613-bis of the criminal code is not in line with the definition inArticle 1 of the UN Convention Against Torture, its scope being apparently narrower. Also, the offence of torture is subject to a statute of limitations which could lead, in some instances, to impunity for facts amounting to torture. Notwithstanding these serious flaws, the introduction of a specific crime of torture in Italian criminal law is, in a number of ways, a step forward. Compared to the situation previously in existence, it is likely to increase the chances that torture, carried out in Italy or elsewhere, will be punished by Italian courts.