The proposal seeks to clampdown on the publication of information obtained from wiretaps, abolish of the crime of abuse of office as well as limit the scope of the crime of influence peddling and to the ability of prosecutors to appeal against some rulings, according to a draft.
The clampdown on wiretaps seeks to stop the reputations of innocent people being damaged by recordings of private conversations appearing in the press.
The draft says the media can only publish the content of a wiretap that is “reproduced by the judge in the explanation of a ruling or used during the debate (in court)”.
The draft also says prosecutors and judges must be more rigorous in eliminating references to people who are not under investigation from their reports.
The bill abolishes the crime of abuse of office.
The felony has come under fire for allegedly being too vague and discouraging local politicians and civil servants from signing off on projects due to fears they will end up under investigation for it.
The draft said there is an “anomaly” in the number of people who are investigated for this crime and the number that actually get convicted for it.
It said 4745 people were probed for abuse of office in 2021 and 3938 in 2022, with 4121 cases being shelved in 2021 and 3536 in 2022.
It said there were only 18 first-instance convictions for abuse of office in 2021.
The bill reduces the scope of the crime of influence peddling to “particularly serious conduct”.
It also says this crime should not be punishable in the case of people who cooperate with investigators.
It removes the ability for prosecutors to appeal against acquittals for less serious crimes too.
ANSA
