Criminal
The Penal Code 1949, with exceptional and military courts alongside it
The Penal Code of 1949 is the general statute. Exceptional jurisdictions — the Counter-Terrorism Court established in 2012, military field courts and military courts trying civilians — have handled a large share of serious cases.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — National in law, with exceptional courts of broad jurisdiction and contested procedure.
Governing law
- Penal Code, Legislative Decree No. 148 of 1949
- Code of Criminal Procedure, Legislative Decree No. 112 of 1950
- Counter-Terrorism Law No. 19 of 2012 and Law No. 22 of 2012 establishing the Counter-Terrorism Court
In practice
The 1949 code follows the French model. The features that dominate any honest account are the exceptional jurisdictions: the Counter-Terrorism Court created in 2012 with very broad offence definitions and abbreviated procedure, the military field courts that operated with almost no procedural protection, and the documented practice of enforced disappearance and death in custody recorded by the UN Commission of Inquiry and the Independent Institution on Missing Persons established by the General Assembly in 2023. Abolition of the field courts was announced in the transitional period, and accountability mechanisms are actively developing.