Italy: Decree-law adopted after widespread demonstrations restricts civic space and undermines children’s rights

The events of 17 and 18 October 2026

On 17 October 2026, demonstrations against the education system and housing crisis and the rising cost of living took place in about fifteen Italian cities. They were initially organised by the "Italia in piazza" movement, bringing together a composite galaxy including trade unions, students and hauliers, which subsequently turned into the 'Movimento 17 Ottobre', following mass demonstrations which took place on that day. In Milan, police authorities estimated the number of participants at approximately 5,000. According to the press and local observers, clashes with law enforcement broke out in the city centre, involving individuals with their faces covered who were separate from the main march. Further unrest, including the looting of several shops, occurred on 18 October following calls circulated on social media that were not linked to any officially declared demonstration. The police headquarters estimated that no more than 2,000 people were present that day. According to law enforcement data reported in the press, 271 young people were taken to the Milan police headquarters, 220 of whom were minors. 16 individuals were arrested on 17 October -including 11 minors-and 32 on 18 October, 23 of whom minors. Legal proceedings for "devastation and looting" under Article 419 of the Criminal Code, which carries a sentence of eight to 15 years of imprisonment, have been initiated, including against minors.

The Italian authorities' response

On 20 October 2026, the Italian Council of Ministers adopted Decree-Law No. 190, entitled "Urgent provisions concerning public safety and the fight against juvenile crime" (Disposizioni urgenti in materia di sicurezza pubblica e contrasto alla criminalità minorile), which was signed by the President of the Italian Republic and published in the Official Journal on 22 October and entered into force on 23 October 2026. As an extraordinary instrument intended to be used only in cases of extreme necessity and urgency (Article 77 of the Italian Constitution), and which must be submitted to Parliament for conversion into law within 60 days of its publication, the decree-law is presented as a response to the events of 17 and 18 October in Milan. However, it fits into a pattern whereby the current government systematically resorts to decrees, which should only be used in exceptional circumstances, to legislate on sensitive issues, such as those related to public security and criminal justice, on which parliamentary scrutiny is crucial.

This text raises a number of concerns, not only from a procedural but also from a substantive point of view. It establishes an offence of "organised violence in a public demonstration", punishable by two to five years of imprisonment and a fine up to 20,000 euros. It also introduces a separate, standalone offence-carrying a penalty of four to 12 years in prison-targeting anyone who organises, promotes or instigates, including "via digital or telecommunication means", the formation of groups for the purpose of engaging in violent demonstrations. Furthermore, it increases the penalties provided for other, existing offences, such as "destruction" and "looting", "attack on public utility infrastructures", such as electricity, water, telecommunications and transport, and "damage to other people's property", when committed in the context of a demonstration or by an organised group of at least five people. The decree also extends the scope of preventive police operations in crowded public spaces, allowing individuals considered a concrete threat to public safety, including minors aged 14 and over, to be taken to and held at police facilities for up to 12 hours. It establishes a rebuttable presumption that minors aged 14 to 18 have, like adults, the capacity to understand and to will (capacità di intendere e di volere) and are therefore criminally liable. This replaces the previous case-by-case assessment, although a special trial and reduced sentences (up to one third) for minors remain in place.

The decree extends "deferred" flagrante delicto arrest, which can be based on video or photographic evidence after the fact, to minors and to offences committed during demonstrations. This allows law enforcement to arrest a suspect without a reasoned order by a judge not only when they are caught in the act but also afterwards (up to 48 hours), thus extending the exception to the rule requiring that arrests must be subject to judicial control and validation within 48 hours (Article 390 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). It also allows pre-trial detention in juvenile prisons for the new offences of "organised violence at public demonstrations" (art. 420-bis of the Criminal Code) and "group criminal damage" (art. 635.1). For defendants aged 16-18, judges ordering precautionary measures are no longer required to take into account the need not to interrupt ongoing educational processes. The decree further introduces administrative fines of 500 Euros to 1,000 Euros for parents, rising to 1,000 Euros -2,000 Euros for repeat conduct, in addition to the compensation for damages caused by their children, already provided for under Italian civil law, even when the child is under 14 and therefore not criminally liable. Finally, it empowers the Questore (provincial police chief) to issue minors aged 14 and over a formal warning banning them from gathering with specific persons in designated public places for up to one year. It also extends the list of crimes that can be prosecuted ex officio to minor injuries committed against law enforcement officials whilst on duty or as a result of their service.

The decree also provides for the deployment of 500 additional soldiers in Milan until 31 December 2026 in the framework of the operation 'Strade Sicure' (Safe Streets). These are paratroopers from the army, who have been deployed to carry out static surveillance of sensitive sites, monitor the territory and conduct patrols in support of the police and the Carabinieri. According to the government, they will not replace the police and do not have any investigative or independent judicial police functions. After this measure, the operation's contingent in Milan increases from 800 to 1,300.

This decree is to be ratified into law by Parliament within 60 days, otherwise it ceases to have effect retroactively ("ex tunc").

Observatory and UFTDU's concerns under international human rights law

The Observatory and the UFTDU are concerned, first, by the new offence of "organised violence in public demonstrations". The offence is framed around violence rather than assembly as such. Its function, however, is to criminalise upstream convening activity offline and online which is precisely where the right to peaceful assembly is exercised in the digital age. Such an offence risks having a chilling effect on the exercise of the right to peaceful assembly and on the work of defenders who mobilise via digital means. International standards, including the UN Human Rights Committee's General Comment No. 37, are clear that the violent conduct of some participants does not strip the remainder of their protection, and that organisers cannot be held liable for unlawful conduct they did not themselves commit.

The Observatory and the UFTDU are equally concerned by the extension of preventive detention, which allows persons to be taken to police premises and held for up to 12 hours on the basis of suspicion, without an offence having been committed. The decree extends it from demonstrations to police operations in places with large crowds and to minors.

Detention without a criminal charge is an exceptional restriction on liberty, and its application to children engages the requirement of the Convention on the Rights of the Child that deprivation of liberty be a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period. Together with the presumption of criminal responsibility from the age of 14, the extension of pre-trial custody to minors and the introduction of interim measures for minors even when these would interrupt their educational path, this marks a retreat from the rehabilitative orientation of juvenile justice.

Our organisations are concerned also about the extension of the practice of 'deferred' flagrance arrest, which removes from judicial control within 48 hours arrests made by law enforcement after an offence has been committed in certain cases, to offences committed during demonstrations and to minors, depriving suspects, including juveniles, of the guarantee of a prompt judicial review.

These concerns are heightened by testimonies collected by Italian civil society organisations, which reported on 20 October that children had been held for up to 12 hours at police premises without being told the reasons for their detention, without their parents being informed, deprived of food and water, and not allowed to make a telephone call. As per article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Italy is a signatory, the deprivation of a child's liberty must be a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible duration, and parents and a lawyer must be informed and able to intervene without delay.

The Observatory recalls that the involvement of the military in the policing of assemblies should be avoided and, where exceptional, remain strictly supportive, under civilian command and subject to the same human rights standards as the police.

Background: A growing pattern of restrictions on civic space

The Observatory recalls that this decree-law is the latest in a series of increasingly restrictive measures introduced by the current government since 2022 in the areas of public security, criminal offences and criminal justice, raising growing concerns about the respect for the right to peaceful assembly, the criminalisation of dissent and an increasingly frequent use of force to disperse peaceful demonstrations in Italy. These include: the 2022 "Anti-Rave Decree" (DL No. 162/2022, converted into Law No. 199/2022), the 2023 Cutro and Caivano Decrees (respectively converted into Law No. 50/2023 and into Law No. 159/2023), Law No. 6/2024 known as "Eco-vandals Law", Decree-Law No. 48/2025 (so-called "Security Decree"), subsequently converted into Law No. 80/2025, Decree-Law No. 23/2026 of February 2026, converted into Law No. 54/2026, and subsequent legislative initiatives in July 2026 (Draft Laws No 181 and 182 of 14 and 23 July 2026), culminating in the latest Decree-Law of 20 October 2026. Decree-Law No. 48/2025, adopted in April 2025 and signed into law in June 2025, had already introduced provisions raising concerns about the criminalisation of various forms of dissent. The 2025 decree made road and railway blockades criminal offences punishable by imprisonment in certain circumstances, rather than solely by administrative penalties (Article 14). It also introduced a new offence of rioting in detention facilities, potentially encompassing forms of passive resistance where these prevent acts necessary to maintain order and security (Article 26). Decree-Law No. 23/2026, converted into Law No. 54/2026, further expanded many of the provisions already criticised by international organisations and civil society, threatening freedom of peaceful assembly, association and expression, as well as other fundamental rights.

The Observatory is concerned that the new decree-law further contributes to this restrictive trend, with potentially serious implications for the exercise of fundamental freedoms and an enabling civic space.

Observatory and UFTDU recommendations

The Observatory and UFTDU call on the Italian authorities to:

• Ensure that the decree-law is not applied in a way that criminalises or restricts the organisation or convening of peaceful assemblies, and facilitate the exercise of the right to peaceful protest, as guaranteed by the Italian Constitution and by European and international human rights law;
• Amend the provisions of the decree-law that risk unduly restricting the right to peaceful assembly, ensuring that the definitions of the newly introduced offences are sufficiently precise and framed to prevent the criminalisation of peaceful protest;
• Ensure that the extended use of the flagrante delicto arrest procedure remains subject to effective judicial oversight and all applicable procedural safeguards, in accordance with international human rights standards;
• Guarantee that any deprivation of liberty involving minors is used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and ensure that minors benefit from all applicable safeguards, including the immediate notification of their parents or legal guardians, prompt access to a lawyer and appropriate medical care where necessary.