Italy
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- parliamentary republic
- CONSTITUTION
- January 1, 1948; amended several times
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on civil law; the Constitutional Court can review certain legislative texts
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- bicameral, Chamber of Deputies and Senate
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Constitutional Court (15 judges, one third appointed by the Head of State, one third elected by Parliament, one third by the judiciary)
RELIGIONS
90% Catholics, 10% others
From the country
JUNE 7, 2006PhilippinesDEATH PENALTYHANDS OFF CAIN. HOC WELCOMES THE ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE PHILIPPINES
Hands Off Cain welcomes the news that Philippine law makers voted to abolish the death penalty.
JUNE 1, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYHANDS OFF CAIN. ANNULMENT OF SENTENCE WELCOMED, RULING SHOWS TRUTH IN HOC’S DENOUNCEMENT
Hands Off Cain welcomed the Iranian Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the death sentence handed down to Nazanin and to order a retrial due to the emergence of new factors in the case.
MAY 30, 2006KazakhstanDEATH PENALTYKAZAKHSTAN. HOC MEETS WITH OPPOSITION, DISCUSSES UN MORATORIUM ON EXECUTIONS
Hands Off Cain met with two Kazakh opposition leaders during its visit to the country: Amirzahan Kosanov, Secretary of Democratic Choice of Kazakistan and the party’s founder Galymzhan Zahikianov.
MAY 29, 2006ItalyDEATH PENALTYKAZAKHSTAN. ‘FROM MORATORIUM TO THE ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY’
the seminar entitled “Kazakhstan from the Moratorium on Death Penalty Toward the Adoption of the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR” took place in the country’s capital Almaty.
MAY 26, 2006KazakhstanDEATH PENALTYKAZAKHSTAN. HANDS OFF CAIN WILL ATTEND THE MEETING ON THE ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY
experts from 8 countries will convene in Almaty on Monday, May 29, to attend the Coordination meeting of NGOs “Kazakhstan from the Moratorium on Death Penalty Toward the Adoption of the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR”.
MAY 23, 2006ItalyDEATH PENALTYITALY. HANDS OFF CAIN IN SUPPORT OF PRODI’S COMMITMENT FOR A MORATORIUM ON EXECUTIONS AT THE NEXT UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Hands Off Cain’s leaders, Sergio D’Elia and Elisabetta Zamparutti, expressed their full appreciation for the statement made by newly elected Prime Minister Romano Prodi in favour of a universal moratorium on executions.
- MAY 10, 2006ItalyDEATH PENALTY
HOC: NEW UN COUNCIL RISKS LOOSING CREDIBILITY
on the election of the new Human Rights Council at the United Nations, Hands Off Cain Treasurer Elisabetta Zamparutti stated: “The presence of totalitarian regimes such as China, Saudi Arabia and Cuba amongst the nations elected as members of the new Huma
- MARCH 29, 2006AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN. CHRISTIAN CONVERT GRANTED ASYLUM IN ITALY
Abdur Rahman, an Afghan Christian convert who had faced the death penalty for abandoning Islam, arrived in Italy and was granted asylum.
- MARCH 21, 2006ItalyDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN. ITALY CONCERNED FOR AFGHAN CHRISTIAN CONVERT FACING EXECUTION
Italy added its voice to concerns for a man facing death in Afghanistan for converting to Christianity, as Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini summoned the Afghan ambassador over the affair.
- MARCH 14, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
HANDS OFF CAIN RESPONDS TO THE IRANIAN EMBASSY’S DENIAL OF THE EXECUTION OF MINORS IN IRAN
Hands Off Cain replies to a note sent it by the Iranian embassy in Rome in which it denyed the application of the death penalty to minors.
FEBRUARY 21, 2006ItalyDEATH PENALTYHANDS OFF CAIN. STOP WITH THE HYPOCRISY OF THE HUMANENESS OF LETHAL INJECTION
Hands Off Cain Treasurer Elisabetta Zamparutti made the following statement regarding the events surrounding the case of Michael Angelo Morales: “States which have recently passed from the electric chair, from hanging or from death by firing squad to tha
FEBRUARY 17, 2006ItalyDEATH PENALTYITALY. HOC PRESENTS REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN IRAN AND APPEAL TO SAVE NAZANIN
a press conference took place at Hands Off Cain headquarters in Rome highlighting human rights violations in Iran and the case of Nazanin, the minor sentenced to death after being charged with killing one of the men who had attempted to rape her.