The Council of Ministers has given the green light, on the proposal of the Minister of Justice Andrea Orlando, to the legislative decree that reforms the discipline of wiretapping. The text will now have to be examined by the Justice commissions for opinions and then returned to the CDM.
"We do not limit the use of interceptions but we contrast the abuse, we know that this tool is essential for investigations and in no way do we want to limit the possibility of having a tool for the judiciary that is fundamental for combating the most serious crimes but it is evident that in recent years there have been frequent abuses”, So the premier Paolo Gentiloni on the enabling law.
The decree proposes a tightening on the use of interceptions in order to prevent the diffusion of irrelevant conversations for the purposes of investigations. The measures envisaged by the text range from the transcripts of the conversations requested by the prosecutors, who will have to reproduce only the essential passages to the establishment of a confidential archive of wiretaps directed by the public prosecutor and access to which will be allowed only to judges, defenders and auxiliaries authorized by the prosecutor .
The reform also establishes the use of wiretaps in the most serious crimes against the public administration committed by public officials. Up to 4 years in prison are foreseen for those who disseminate audiovisual footage and recordings of communications made fraudulently to damage "the reputation or image of others".
"The provision on interceptions - said Minister Andrea Orlando - addresses a long-standing issue, it does not restrict the faculty of magistrates to use interceptions", "we have set a series of constraints that do not restrict the investigative capacity but reduce the risk of escape of news if they are not linked to criminally relevant facts". "The interceptions are not intended to shed light on the personal sphere of individuals but to prosecute crimes".
