Italy
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1998
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- NOVEMBER 12, 1998 · On 12 November 1998, Kurd leader Abdullah Ocalan,...
- News items in the archive
- 712
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Italy is classified as Abolitionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 712 news items on Italy, from 1998 to today.
Italy abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes in the Constitution of 1948, removed it from the military penal code of war in 1994 and, in 2007, amended article 27 of the Constitution to delete the last reference to it. Since then it has supported a universal moratorium in international forums.
The Italian news in this archive concerns above all the association's other front: conditions inside places of detention, meaning overcrowding, suicides, access to care, life imprisonment without parole and alternative measures, together with the prison visits the association carries out and publishes reports on.
Latest news
- APRIL 22, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Diego Volpe Pasini, national secretary for the Popular...
Diego Volpe Pasini, national secretary for the Popular Liberal Party in Europe with Haider, declared itself in favour of the death penalty for those who rape and kill minors stating that if his party should enter parliament they would propose a law to tha
- APRIL 22, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
"il Giorno", "La Nazione" and "il Resto del Carlino",...
"il Giorno", "La Nazione" and "il Resto del Carlino", all newspapers belonging to the Riffeser group, had as their headlines "Death Penalty, yes, yes, yes" to give relevance to some of the stances taken in relation to the murder of young girl, Sara Jay
- APRIL 21, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Franco Zeffirelli, speaking in relation to the murder...
Franco Zeffirelli, speaking in relation to the murder of a eight year old girl, Sara Jay Cusma, declared that the death penalty or exile to a far away island would be the right punishment for those who commit such crimes
- APRIL 19, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
"My name is Oliviero Toscani and I would like to talk...
"My name is Oliviero Toscani and I would like to talk about the death penalty, even though it seems ridiculous of me to talk about it in April 2001"
- MARCH 29, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
In a letter, Reggio Emilia Mayor Antonella Spaggiari...
In a letter, Reggio Emilia Mayor Antonella Spaggiari threatened to dissolve the cultural exchange relationship with Fort Worth city, in Texas
- MARCH 15, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Hands Off Cain and Nexta
Hands Off Cain and Nexta
- MARCH 6, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Senator Ersilia Salvato, vice-president of the Senate...
Senator Ersilia Salvato, vice-president of the Senate and President of the Senate Committee against the death penalty, asked the Governor of Missouri Bob Holden to pardon Antonio Richardson, a mentally impaired convict, sentenced to death for a double mur
- MARCH 5, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The Speaker of the House Luciano Violante declared:...
The Speaker of the House Luciano Violante declared: "We are working in unison with the Presidents of France and Germany towards a European bill against the death penalty"
- FEBRUARY 24, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The leader of the Democratici di Sinistra (Democratic...
The leader of the Democratici di Sinistra (Democratic Left, DS) parliamentary group Fabio Mussi condemned statements by far right politicians calling for the death penalty for the perpetrators of a horrific double murder in Novi Ligure
- JANUARY 24, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The Committee for the Abolition of the Death Penalty...
The Committee for the Abolition of the Death Penalty presented its conclusive report to the Italian Senate
- JANUARY 18, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
[photographer] Oliviero Toscani commenting on the postponement...
[photographer] Oliviero Toscani commenting on the postponement of the execution of North Carolina death row inmate Bobby Lee Harris, said "I hope he gets a commutation of his sentence, or even a pardon
- JANUARY 17, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Hands off Cain organised a demonstration in front of...
Hands off Cain organised a demonstration in front of the Palestinian delegation premises in Rome
- JANUARY 15, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
European Parliamentarian Emma Bonino criticised the...
European Parliamentarian Emma Bonino criticised the Palestinian Authority for the summary death sentences issued after trials lacking deliberation, and without the possibility of appeal or clemency
- JANUARY 1, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The Constitution approved in 1948 abolished the death...
The Constitution approved in 1948 abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes
- DECEMBER 14, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The Colosseum was illuminated to celebrate commutations...
The Colosseum was illuminated to celebrate commutations of sentences given to 105 death row prisoners in the Phillipines
- DECEMBER 14, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The Colosseum was illuminated to mark the occasion...
The Colosseum was illuminated to mark the occasion in New York, when the Secretary of the UN Kofi Annan was presented with 3 million signatures, from 145 countries, in an appeal against the death penalty organised by the Community of Saint Egidio
- DECEMBER 4, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
A collection of signatures against the death penalty...
A collection of signatures against the death penalty was presented to the President of Italy, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, at the end of a meeting with Archbishop Piovanelli organised by the Florentine church to mark the year of the Jubilee
- NOVEMBER 30, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
In occasion of the of the Tuscan Florence festival,...
In occasion of the of the Tuscan Florence festival, held to celebrate the decision taken in 1786 by the Grand-Duke of Tuscany, to make it the first state in the world to have abolished the death penalty and the use of torture, there was held a conference
- NOVEMBER 4, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The head of the Senate Nicola Mancini declared before...
The head of the Senate Nicola Mancini declared before Pope John Paul II and the 'world parliament' assembly on occasion of the Jubilee of politicians that "the death penalty, which many States still provide for, dissappear from criminal law"
- NOVEMBER 3, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
During a ministerial conference on human rights held...
During a ministerial conference on human rights held by the Council of Europe at the Italian Foreign Ministry, it was said that following the signing of the European Convention on Human Rights, the main priorities lay in obtaining the aboltion of the deat
- OCTOBER 25, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Presenting his case in the European Parliament, Francesco...
Presenting his case in the European Parliament, Francesco Rutelli asked that a 'European day against the death penalty' be instituted, and that an international moratorium on capital executions be a priority within international politics and for the gener
- OCTOBER 20, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The local Council of Siena presented the Rocco Derek...
The local Council of Siena presented the Rocco Derek Barnabeu Foundation, which will campaign for the abolition of the death penalty around the world
- OCTOBER 11, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Commenting on the rejection of the Italian candidature...
Commenting on the rejection of the Italian candidature for one of the two non-permanent seats assigned to Eurpoe by the U
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The President of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi,...
The President of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, criticised the death penalty by declaring that it be "abolished once and for all in all countries appartaining to the Council of Europe", that is to say even those countries where the death penalty is f
- SEPTEMBER 20, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The Prime Minister of Italy declared during a visit...
The Prime Minister of Italy declared during a visit to Washington, only a few days after the execution of Barnabei, that the death penalty is a problem that will grow in the conscience of the American people
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The local Council of Milan approved a motion by counsellor...
The local Council of Milan approved a motion by counsellor Emanuele Fiano to name March 15th, the anniversary of Cesare Beccaria, philosopher who inspired the Italian justice system, as 'anti-death death penalty day'
- SEPTEMBER 15, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Derek Rocco Barnabei died by lethal injection in Greensville...
Derek Rocco Barnabei died by lethal injection in Greensville prison after the Supreme Court rejected the last appeals presented by the lawyers of the Italo-American convict
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini gave a speech...
Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini gave a speech from New York, where he was attending the U
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The Pontiff united his voice to "those who ask that...
The Pontiff united his voice to "those who ask that Derek Rocco Barnabei's life be spared"
- SEPTEMBER 12, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The mayor of Rome, Francesco Rutelli, Minister for...
The mayor of Rome, Francesco Rutelli, Minister for Parliamentary relations, Patrizia Toia, former European Commissioner Emma Bonino, Parliamentary vice president Alfredo Biondi and MP Fabrizio Vigni all sent messages to Governor Gilmore via a telematic po