Italy’s Meloni Government Shifts Burden Of Proof For Minors Aged 14 To 18

Italy’s right-wing coalition government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, approved a bill that would reverse the presumption of criminal responsibility for minors aged 14 to 18 by shifting the burden of proof in determining criminal responsibility.

“The draft legislation would amend Article 98 of the Italian Penal Code”

Anadolu Ajansı

Justice Minister Carlo Nordio said the measure “neither lowers the age of criminal responsibility, which remains 14, nor increases penalties for minors,” and described the change as “the presumption of criminal responsibility.”

Anadolu Ajansı

Under the current system, Nordio said criminal capacity must be established separately in each case based on whether the offender was capable of understanding the nature and consequences of the act and controlling their conduct.

The draft legislation would amend Article 98 of the Italian Penal Code, treating people aged 14 to 18 as having such capacity unless evidence obtained through investigations or assessments ordered by prosecutors or judges proves otherwise.

Meloni defended the measure in a video message, saying those who commit assaults, robberies, or acts of vandalism “must always pay the price,” even if they are 15 or 16.

The opposition Democratic Party (PD) accused the government of resorting to propaganda and repression instead of addressing the underlying causes of youth hardship, with PD lawmaker Matteo Mauri warning that the measure risked “criminalizing an entire generation.”

Save the Children criticized the bill, warning that it could encourage authorities to respond to adolescent wrongdoing in the same way as adult crime without considering the vulnerability of minors at a critical stage of development.

ANSA

Il Sole 24 ORE described the bill as making criminal responsibility automatic by requiring that the inability to understand and form intent be proven on a case-by-case basis, after the Council of Ministers approved a three-article bill on 23 July.

Il Sole 24 ORE also reported that the draft bill is based on a reversal of the burden of proof and has the effect of making under-18s fully criminally liable, bringing them closer to the regime applicable to adults.

RaiNews said the novelty concerns the presumption of imputability, explaining that the burden of proof is inverted so that capacity to understand and to will is presumed for the over-fourteen under-eighteen, subject to contrary evidence.

The bill must be debated and approved by both chambers of Italy’s parliament before becoming law, according to Anadolu Ajansı, after the Council of Ministers approved the draft legislation.A

“The bill must be debated and approved by both chambers of Italy’s parliament”

Anadolu Ajansı

Il Sole 24 ORE reported that the measure is not immediately operative and that it will be debated and approved by Parliament, while also noting that the government aims to amend Article 98 of the Criminal Code.

Nordio told a press conference that the measure aims to “facilitate investigations” and described it as the “final piece in a series of measures, starting with the Caivano decree.”

RaiNews said Nordio clarified that the rule “does not lower the age of imputability for the minor, which remains 14,” and that penalties have not been tightened, with the burden of proof reversed.

Save the Children, as quoted by Il Fatto Quotidiano, warned that “La violenza giovanile non può essere affrontata prendendo a modello la giustizia degli adulti,” arguing that considering minors as a rule imputable risks sending a risky message about adult-equivalent penal responses.