Capital punishment in Italy

The use of capital punishment in peacetime in Italy has been banned since 1889, with the exception of the period 1926–1947, encompassing the rule of Fascism in Italy under Benito Mussolini (who was himself ultimately summarily executed) and the early restoration of democracy. Before the unification of Italy in 1860, capital punishment was performed in almost all pre-unitarian states, except for Tuscany, where, starting from 1786, it was repeatedly abolished (most recently in 1859) and reintroduced. It is currently prohibited by the Constitution of the Italian Republic with no more exceptions even in times of war.

History

In Italy, the first pre-unitarian state to abolish the death penalty was the Grand Duchy of Tuscany as of 30 November 1786, under the reign of Pietro Leopoldo (soon to become Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor) following about fourteen years of de facto moratorium. So Tuscany was the first modern state in the world to formally ban torture and capital punishment.

However, the death penalty was almost immediately reintroduced in 1790, due to the turmoil that accompanied Pietro Leopoldo's departure for Vienna. In 1831 a new moratorium on executions was proclaimed. With a law dated 11 October 1847, in the context of the reversion of the Duchy of Lucca to Tuscany, Grand Duke Leopold II, Pietro Leopoldo's grandson, abolished the death penalty in his new duchy, which therefore became the only abolitionist territory until February 1848, when the supreme court of Florence promptly extended the measure to the entire territory of the Grand Duchy.

This time too, however, the abolition was short-lived, and in 1852 capital punishment was restored again, only to be reabolished for the third time in 1859 by the Provisional Government that took office following the expulsion of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. In the whole period from the post-Napoleonic restoration to 1859 there were only two capital executions in the Grand Duchy, in 1820 and 1830, and a third case, in 1854, could not be carried out due to practical impossibility (there was no longer an appointed headsman on duty, the guillotine had been thrown into the Arno in 1848, there was no personnel willing to be involved), and the Grand Duke had no choice but to pardon the condemned man, despite his being convicted of "a most enormous crime".