Acquittals to be published in newspapers, yes from magistrates and lawyers

From magistrates and criminalists a substantial go-ahead for the proposed law, presented by Enrico Costa (Forza Italia), establishing the obligation to publish the news of the definitive judgement of acquittal. Yesterday, the hearings held in the Chamber's Justice Committee revealed a basic agreement with the objective of the proposal, which aims to strengthen the powers of the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (Garante for the protection of personal data), giving it the possibility to intervene when, at the request of the defendant acquitted with a sentence that has become irrevocable or of the suspect acquitted, the director or the person in charge of a newspaper, radio, television or online publication does not give publicity to the ruling or does not do so in the same manner and with the same prominence given to the news of the commencement of criminal proceedings or to the statements, information and acts that are the subject of the trial.

The interested party, in the event of failure by the editor or head of the newspaper to comply with the provisions, may then report the matter to theGuarantee, which, in turn, will decide within forty-eight hours of receiving it.

The right to a good name and confidentiality is introduced in another joint bill in favour of the recipients of an acquittal or dismissal order. The latter are entitled, within 12 months of the pronouncement of the orders, to the non-visibility on search engines and on the internet of all information and press articles referring to their previous status as suspects/defendants and to the personal data contained in the judicial orders.

For the vice-president of the Magistrates' Association Marcello De Chiara, 'these are measures that meet aims that the Association shares and considers worthy of protection. I would point out, however, that the syntagma 'suspect acquitted' is imprecise because it has no equivalent in procedural law. And then we consider that the concept of dismissal presupposes the formulation of a charge that is not necessarily raised against the suspect. It would be better to refer to the definition of a person against whom a dismissal is pronounced'.

As for the expenses of publication, according to De Chiara, the solution identified for the revision of the conviction should be borrowed, putting them at the expense of the Fine Fund. However, Costa disagreed, considering it more consistent to leave the costs chargeable to the publisher, although certainly not as the result of an acknowledgement of responsibility, which was already non-existent in the assumptions of the regulatory intervention.