Protection of crime victims enters the Constitution
Unanimous yes in the House for the reform. Now on to the other two parliamentary steps
Key points
The proposal for a constitutional law, which aims to include the principle of the protection of crime victims in the Constitution, has been unanimously approved by the Chamber. Article 24 of the Constitution is to be amended, where a new third paragraph is to be inserted after the second: 'the Republic protects the victims of crime'. The measure was approved at first reading in the Senate on 14 January 2025 and now still has to be approved once each by both branches of Parliament.
The notion adopted
In the course of the examination in the Senate, a notion was chosen that refers exclusively to the protection of the victims of crime, without reference to any distinction between 'victim', 'offended' and 'damaged' persons. Also with an eye on the European law dimension, it was considered that the victim concept is the most extensive.
Location in the Charter
As for the location within the Constitution, on the other hand, although all the four original draft laws that later merged into the adopted text placed the novelty in Article 111 of the Constitution on due process, the choice adopted during the referral examination, also after an extensive cycle of hearings, was for a different location, in Article 24 of the Constitution: in this way, a dimension of protection was emphasised that was not exclusively confined to the perimeter of the criminal or civil trial, to cover a broader range of cases and contents.
The landmarks
There are several points of reference, both jurisprudential and normative. With regard to the former, the Constitutional Court has clarified that the person offended by the crime in criminal proceedings is the bearer of a twofold interest: that of reimbursement of damages, which is exercised through the constitution of a civil plaintiff, and that of the affirmation of the criminal liability of the offender, which is exercised through an activity of support and control of the work of the public prosecutor (judgment 249 of 2020).
The Cartabia reform
As to the expression 'crime victim', the legislative decree of 10 October 2022, number 150 (Cartabia reform of the criminal process) defines crime victim as 'the natural person who has directly suffered any pecuniary or non-pecuniary damage from the crime, as well as the family member of the natural person whose death was caused by the crime and who has suffered damage as a consequence of that person's death'.
