The Constitutional Court discusses the constitutionality of the Piantedosi decree

This morning the Constitutional Court today discusses the constitutional legitimacy of the Piantedosi decree, the law sweeps NGOs from the Mediterranean, the law that leaves the raids of the Libyan Coast Guard and Tunisian Guard militiamen without witnesses. The Constitutional Court will finally have to express its opinion on those rules that stop the ships of the civil fleet in ports, effectively threatening them with the risk of confiscation.

During one of the proceedings initiated by the NGO Sos Mediterranée against a detention of the Ocean Viking ship (which continues to save hundreds of people: in its last operation, on May 17, it rescued an overloaded wooden boat in international waters off Tunisia), the question of the legitimacy of the decree was referred to the Constitutional Court. The question of constitutionality had been raised by the Court of Brindisi, in the context of the trial due to the appeal against the detention of the Ocean Viking on February 9, 2024. The lawyers who signed that appeal, Dario Belluccio and Francesca Cancellaro , point out that a fundamental legal principle is at stake: " Conduct aimed at saving the lives of others cannot be sanctioned" . The provisions of the Piantedosi law (decree of January 2023 later converted into state law) conflict with the provisions of the Italian Constitution on several points. One of the main issues concerns the principle of proportionality and reasonableness of the sanction.

“The principle of proportionality should always guide the legislator’s decisions when it comes to limiting fundamental rights ,” the lawyers said at the hearing at the Court of Brindisi in October 2024. “ In this case, fundamental rights are at stake, both for those affected by the sanction provided for by the law, such as rescue ships, and for the shipwrecked people themselves. The detention of the ship represents a sanction that inhibits rescue activities and therefore prevents access to the fundamental rights of people in danger at sea.” Then there is the question of the principle of certainty. The Piantedosi rules subordinate the ascertainment of the unlawful conduct of rescue ships to the assessments of the authorities of a third State, in the case from which the appeal arose, it is Libya. The law is so vague that it obliges rescuers to respect any indication , even if it comes from authorities belonging to other States, in this case Libya: from a legal point of view, therefore, Italy's sanctioning of the Ocean Viking – a Norwegian-flagged vessel that was in international waters – for not having respected the indications of the Libyan authorities is highly questionable from a legal point of view.

The judges of the Constitutional Court are therefore called upon to express their opinion mainly on these objections raised by the judge of merit, which call into question not only individual provisions but the entire structure of an unjust, discriminatory and punitive law. Awaiting today's hearing, lawyer Francesca Cancellaro says: "This is the first real opportunity to address the root of the criticisms we have leveled at the Piantedosi decree since its introduction: a law that criminalises non-governmental organisations, effectively limiting the number of their rescues. It is a system that subordinates operational choices to the indications of countries like Libya that systematically violate fundamental rights and endangers the lives of shipwrecked people and rescuers at sea. The Constitutional Court will be able to resolve those contradictions that currently make our system inconsistent: on the one hand, it is a crime to take shipwrecked people to Libya or hand them over to the Libyan authorities; on the other hand, and at the same time, if you do not comply with the Libyans' orders, you risk detention of the ship, up to and including confiscation of the vessel".

Valeria Taurino , director of SOS Mediterranée Italia, adds: “In the face of this government’s attempts to circumvent international law, humanitarian law and, above all, the duties of humanity with unjust laws, the fact of being before the highest court in the country demonstrates unequivocally that the rule of law cannot be overridden. Rescuing those whose lives are in danger is a right and a duty, and it is up to those who would like to overturn this inviolable principle to demonstrate that this is not the case, certainly not to those who, driven by a humanitarian spirit, are at sea to try to save human lives. Moreover, already in accepting our request for suspension of the arrest, the Court of Brindisi had underlined how our search and rescue activities are ‘in themselves worthy’ of institutional protection”.

Since the entry into force of the Piantedosi decree, there have been dozens of administrative detentions of NGO ships of the civil fleet that carry out search and rescue operations at sea, especially along the deadly routes that depart from Tunisia and Libya. These sanctions have severely limited the rescue capacity in the Mediterranean Sea and contributed to the strengthening of the illegal activities of the Libyan Coast Guard and Tunisian militiamen and to the rejection of asylum seekers.

FROM

Angela Nocioni