COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD CONSIDERS THE REPORT OF ITALY

The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of the Child has considered the third and fourth combined reports of Italy on its implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of the Child.

Presenting the report, Carlo Giovanardi, Under-Secretary of State from the Department for Family Policies at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, said that the Italian Government, through the Administrations whose representatives are members of this Delegation, deemed it essential to promote the dialogue with civil society, in particular with those non-governmental organizations that operate daily for the protection and promotion of child rights.

Despite the global financial juncture and the complex situation Italy was truly committed to advancing human rights, as evidenced by its recent re-election to the Human Rights Council in June 2011. Also, a National Independent Human Rights Institution was approved by the Senate on 20 July 2011, and an ad hoc bill was now under examination in the Chamber of Deputies.

A new political and institutional framework was envisaged to encourage, elaborate and launch relevant initiatives, from designing ad hoc policies through to implementing programmes for childhood and adolescence. A position of ombudsman for children was created. Mr. Giovanardi highlighted Italy’s efforts on poverty reduction, access to education, inter-country adoptions, de-institutionalization, juvenile justice mechanisms, and more.

Committee experts raised questions concerning, among other matters, equity issues in services between different regions, the need for assistance for unaccompanied migrant children, the high drop-out rate in secondary school, the functions and responsibilities of the new Ombudsman on Children, corporal punishment, the situation of Roma children, judicial proceedings that concerned children, children born out of wedlock, adolescent health and rules of engagement in the army.

In concluding remarks, Peter Guran, Committee member acting as the Rapporteur for Italy, commented that Italy had many legislative frameworks to protect children’s rights. However there were a number of new laws and their impact was not yet assessable. The creation of the post of Ombudsman was very important. He was pleased with the decentralization process concerning the care of adolescents. It was important to find the right proportion of budget reduction, if a reduction was absolutely necessary.

The delegation of Italy included representatives of the Department for Family Policies, the Department for Equal Opportunities, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations in Geneva.

The next public meeting of the Committee will take place on Wednesday, 21 September 2011 at 10 a.m, when the Committee will examine the combined third and fourth periodic reports of the Republic of Korea (CRC/C/KOR/3-4).


Report of Italy

The combined third and fourth periodic reports of Italy (CRC/C/ITA/3-4) noted that as a State party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which it ratified through Law 176 of 27 May 1991, as well as to its two Optional Protocols on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, implemented by Law 46 of 11 March 2002, Italy recognized the status of the child as entitled to rights as an individual and within the family and social community in which he lived, grew and matured.

Since the submission of the previous report (2001) and following the 2003 remarks of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Italian Government has issued a significant system of regulatory provisions which on the one hand have revised and adapted previous provisions, and on the other hand have contributed to widening the current regulatory system to the benefit of children and adolescents.

Some of the fields of childhood and adolescence policies where this growing attention could be noted were those regarding family, intra-family relations, children outside the family and deinstitutionalization; sexual abuse, online child pornography and related developments; migrant foreign children and juvenile justice. Particularly vulnerable categories of children were irregular migrants, Roma children, children living in poverty and children in custody.

No national census of the Roma population in Italy had been carried out, but there were local authorities that held data regarding their areas. It was however worth mentioning that the civil protection order signed on 30 May 2008 envisaged an imminent and progressive census of Italian Roma, Romanian Roma, non-European Union Roma and non-European Union citizens belonging to other nations, whose objective is also the protection of children in order to remove them from their illegal alien status and improve their situation. According to Opera Nomadi, within Roma, Sinti and Caminanti populations, 70 to 80 per cent of individuals were aged under 25, and of them, more than 50 per cent were aged under 18. As an indication, the number of Roma, Sinti and Caminanti children was approximately 70,000. A certainly significant number of children needed growing attention in matters of health conditions for example.
On the basis of the annual survey on consumptions (year 2006) by The National Institute for Statistics in Italy (ISTAT), the more recent survey available to date, it was worth mentioning that on the whole there were 1,728,000 individuals aged under 18 who lived, with their families, in a situation of relative poverty.

Concerning foreign children in custody, there was an increase in the number of foreign children stopped by the judicial authorities and taken into care by the Office of the Social Services for Children (USSM) between 2001 and 2006, revealing a growing trend on the part of the judicial authorities to use the integrated system of services of the Juvenile Justice System. In particular, there was a 70 per cent increase in the number of Roma children who had committed a crime and were placed in a “probation” institution while for foreign children of other nationalities the increase was 112 per cent. Analyzing the statistical trends for the period from 2001 to 2006, there appeared to be no discriminatory treatment by judges from the juvenile courts, nor by the Juvenile Justice Services. Indeed, foreign children were placed in Juvenile Penal Institutions, First Reception Centres or Communities because they generally did not have any documents proving their identity and/or did not have any reliable family members (“unaccompanied” foreigners).

Presentation of the report of Italy

CARLO GIOVANARDI, Under-Secretary of State, Department for Family Policies at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, said that the Italian Government, through the Administrations whose representatives were members of this Delegation, deemed as essential to promote the dialogue with civil society, in particular with those non-governmental organizations that operate daily for the protection and promotion of children’s rights. In previous years many formal and informal consultations were held with such organizations and associations in order to gather information about obstacles faced to eradicate discriminatory attitudes, violence and abuse against children at all stages in our society.

Despite the global financial juncture and the complex situation, Italy was truly committed to advancing human rights, as evidenced by its recent re-election to the Human Rights Council in June 2011. Also, a National Independent Human Rights Institution was approved by the Senate on July 20, 2011 and an ad hoc bill was now under examination in the Chamber of Deputies.

A new political and institutional framework was envisaged to encourage, elaborate and launch relevant initiatives, from designing ad hoc policies through implementing programmes for childhood and adolescence. Law No. 112 for example, of July 12, 2011, established an Ombudsman for Childhood and Adolescence, as included among Italy’s commitment to follow-up the Universal Periodic Review recommendations (February-June 2009).

Some of the key initiatives undertaken since the Third-Fourth Combined Periodic Report include the following: the need to balance the full and efficient employment of public resources with highest quality of early childhood socio-educational services for 2010-2013, according to central and local needs and aimed at supporting the Regions in the preparation of legislative and administrative prerequisites concerning early childhood initiatives. Child poverty reduction had been another main goal of Italy. A further relevant issue was the need for conciliation between living time and working time to meet the needs expressed by both employed and independent workers in their role as parents.

Inter-country adoptions were monitored in Italy by a complex and efficient mechanism, which allowed the competent commission to follow each individual case in all its stages, including post-adoption.

The right to education for all children living in Italy, without any distinction as to gender, race, language, religion, origin or nationality was a fundamental principle enshrined in Italy’s Constitution. The inclusion in the Italian school system of pupils with non Italian citizenship was one of the relevant challenges to be faced in order to plan possible actions for integration, the social cohesion and for the education of future citizens. A survey was led and showed that in the last five years an increasing number of pupils of non-Italian citizenship – 70.000 children each year – were registered in Italy. Also, new funds were allocated for early school leaving, especially in order to improve the school system in Southern Italy.

Another challenge for Italy was the de-institutionalization process that involved both families and local services which had the function of providing protection and care for children and adolescents. In 2010 a Plan for the Prevention of Institutionalization was adopted.

With regard to trafficking in human beings, Italy remained strongly committed to combating this scourge, which mainly affected women and children. The budget for victims had been preserved for 2011-2012, amounting to 10 million Euros per year.
The condition of children within the juvenile justice system and in prison was another relevant issue that, at the present, was under ongoing legislative definition to establish the best measures restricting child personal freedom while amending the criminal code to commend offences and alternative sanctions for children under eighteen.

Over the past decade, the number of immigrants resident in Italy had increased by almost 250 per cent. In this context Italy had a System of Protection for Asylum Seekers and Refugees (SPRAR) set up throughout the country, which aimed to take charge of asylum-seekers, including children, so as to facilitate their access to social services. In 2009 The Government had allocated approximately 30 million Euros for social integration projects, such as Italian language courses, for foreign children and adolescents. Also public officials and public service providers were mandated to take charge of unaccompanied minors.

The stigmatization of any minority had always been a matter of concern and recent circumscribed cases of violence against Roma communities had been expressly condemned by all political forces, besides being the subject of judicial investigations. Specific attention was paid to the situation within unauthorized camps, whose precarious and dangerous conditions remained a priority for both central and local authorities. The most urgent issues involved housing, education, vocational training and work, as they were the minimum prerequisites for real integration into society, for women and children in particular.

In addition, several legislative measures were recently introduced in the Italian legislation to contrast all direct forms of violence and abuse of children, address the international demand for establishing new procedures and mechanisms to protect the physical and psychological integrity of children and to discipline criminal aspects for sex crimes against minors.

As regards the implementation of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflicts, 18 was the minimum limit to enlist Italian citizens in the military conscription service and the legislation in force prohibited army medical inspections on individuals aged less than 18. A bill also under examination legislated four to 12 years imprisonment for the recruitment of children younger than fifteen in the armed forces involved in peacekeeping operations, increased by one half if the child aged less than eighteen was involved in military operations.

Questions by the Experts

PETER GURAN, first Rapporteur for Italy, asked about the delay in reporting about children’s rights in Italy. He asked if it was possible to have a guarantee from the Italian government that there would be continuous monitoring and implementation of the Convention. He wanted to know more about how the coordination of the implementation of the Convention was organized, such as between the different Ministries, for example. Concerning the horizontal coordination, the Expert asked how it was working between the different regions of Italy, which tended to be quite autonomous. What would be the role of the Ombudsman in the regional coordination?

HIRANTHI WIJEMANNE, Second Rapporteur for Italy, said that there seemed to be an equity issue between different parts of Italy, there was disparity in terms of services. There was also the issue of unaccompanied children, and their increasing need for more assistance. Was the data system able to recognize the issues faced by children? She also regretted the high drop-out rate from school, especially in the secondary level, and asked about the solutions proposed for this. There were issues for women who had to take care of their children by themselves and did not have the means. Finally she asked about the independent monitoring structure such as the ombudsman, and how efficient they were.

General measures and definitions, and civil freedoms

A Committee Member asked about the participation of children at both the policy and individual level. The children’s counsels around Italy were a positive point, but their activity seemed sporadic and unsystematic because of lack of funding. Children should be allowed to influence how things went in school – participation should be more encouraged. There was a law stating that children under 12 would only be heard in divorce cases if they had the necessary understanding, but this provision lead to children under 12 not being heard most of the time.

Another Expert asked about private enterprises. He was pleased with the promotion of the corporate social responsibility bill. Then he mentioned the cotton produced in Uzbekistan by forced labour of children. Was Italy supporting this movement at the European Union level to make sure this cotton was not imported?

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women had recommended that the media, particularly the advertising media, stopped using stereotypes of women and girls. How did Italy ensure proper regulation of the marketing media that targeted children?

Also, why was the Ombudsman only active in seven regions out of 20?

Concerning corporal punishment, it did not seem that there was significant progress although there was a law to ban it in school, and a law to ban it in the realm of the family.

With regard to Roma, camps were set up close to Rome and close to Milan. Yet these camps did not have access to crucial services such as schools. What did Italy plan on doing about that?

With regard to the article on freedom of association, they mentioned that for a child to own the property of an association, he or she needed to be 18. Did Italy plan to change this? Was it possible to have a child labour organization? Was there a children’s parliament in Italy? Was there any data on child and youth organizations and the number of the members it represented? Regarding protection of privacy, how were the rights of children of religious minorities protected when they had to show their religion in their identification?

An Expert asked if a birth mother had the right not to recognize the child, even when the child was born from a married couple. It would be comprehensible if the child was born from rape or incest, but this formulation of the law was a bit surprising.

One Expert congratulated the new law regarding non-discrimination. Concerning the right to life, survival and development, she referred to the Roma camps, where children did not have enough access to school and health services.

The corruption in the Transparency Index a concern, and the Committee hoped that the necessary budget was kept for children.

Response by the Delegation

Concerning the supposed delays, the delegation answered that the government constantly stayed active on the subject of children’s rights. Concerning regions, he mentioned that they all had the same status. Also, more than five billion Euros had been made available to ensure that children had benefits available.

Concerning the constitutional reform in 2001, the Italian system had been reorganized. The levels of governments had all kept their human rights imperatives. The administrative competences were parted in three areas: civil issues and family rights, regional competence and the residual competence such as social services. These competences needed to take into account the standards defined to ensure that civil rights were properly complied with. When it came to coordination, there was an organizational set of rules, professional coordination, and financial coordination. Italy had an observatory for children and adolescents, and also an observatory for families. All levels of government were involved, as well as bodies that represented civil society. There were mixed procedures in order to involve all actors, horizontally (between the bodies that take care of families, children and more) and vertically (between the regions and the government). Regions in the South were given technical assistance so that they could be at the same level as the other regions. This fell into the realm of financial cooperation.
There was a very low demand for crèches in the country, although the regions had created a budget for these crèches.

Concerning the establishment of the ombudsman, there was a deep political will to take care of children and adolescents. There would be no political interference and it would be totally independent. There would be a fund of 1.5 million Euros per year, and no interference of the government for the ombudsman to have access to these funds. A good number of regional ombudsmen were already in place. To be an ombudsman, they needed to be as independent as the national ombudsman. There would be a conference soon with the ombudsmen and all the bodies that take care of children’s rights. When receiving notification of potential rights violations, the ombudsman had to inform the concerned court.

There was the 12 year limit for criminal procedures. The question of hearing a child under 12 might be deemed to be equivocal but it was not. Children under 12 were heard by the judge. Outside of judicial proceedings, teachers and other social workers in schools were trained to hear children, to prevent abuse. The social worker or teacher did not have to go through the director to notify a possible case of abuse. The constitutional body that trained magistrates organized a week of specific training on hearing children. Good practice was evoked, and in many courts special hearing rooms had been created, with one-way mirrors for judges to hear the children.

Questions by the Experts

The Chairman commented that he was reassured that Italy listened to children in judicial proceedings. But he also noticed that not many children had participated in celebrating of the anniversary of the Convention.

Response by the Delegation

Around 12 per cent of children were volunteering in some form for associations. Italy in 2009 carried out research on 20,000 children aged 11, 13 and 15. Questions were asked about participation in associations, families, sporting activities and school. Regarding children’s participation, a pamphlet was created to make children aware about the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

On 20 November 2011, a high-level event would be organized in coordination with UNICEF.

The bill on children born out of wedlock pointed to the responsibilities of the parents. Children born out of wedlock did not have the same inheritance rights; but this would soon be changed. These children used to be called “natural children”, but it was deemed to be discriminatory so this expression was not used anymore.

Concerning children who were abandoned at birth, women who gave birth had the right not to be named. Those women were immediately accompanied by social services and who tried to convince those women to keep their child. There was a debate at the moment in Parliament about those issues.

Concerning early marriage, it was possible from the age of 16 (for boys and girls), but it required an authorization from the juvenile court. Often it concerned girls who were pregnant. The judge had to evaluate whether the persons were mature enough to get married. There had been issues with Roma communities because some marriages took place with girls aged 12.

Questions by the Experts

An expert noted that there was a new program for inter-country adoption. Italy planned to develop the regional and public agencies in this field, and he wanted to know more about this issue.

One Expert asked about the foster care and whether there was a de-institutionalization plan underway.

Another Expert asked about after-school services and how the government made sure that the children had access to these services.

Concerning corporal punishment, she asked if there was an intention to use the scandal about the Italian politician who beat his child on holiday, in order to further promote the prohibition of corporal punishment.

On adolescent health, an Expert asked about the adolescents who took psychotropic drugs in order to improve school performance, and whether there was sensitization about that. Had Italy introduced sexual education in schools, and what was being done to counter the increasing number of early pregnancies? Also, what was being done about the increasing use of alcohol, cannabis and cocaine?

One Expert asked about the application and implementation of the Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She also asked about the living conditions in Lampedusa for irregular migrant children, because according to reports many were detained over 24 hours, even when with adults. Children were sometimes identified as adults, what was being done to counter that? Was it the case that databases only referred to physical disabilities?

With regard to inclusive education, the Committee was concerned about the financial cutbacks.

How had the rules about not engaging minors in conflict been respected in Libya? Also, to what extent had Italy ensured the compliance to article 38?

Questions by the Experts

Would the state party consider a multidimensional study on child poverty?

What measures had been taken to monitor the spread of infectious diseases?

Considering the rising number of migration to Italy, were there any efforts to enhance the health services for these migrants?

Was there legislation prohibiting children from participating in hostilities?

What was the definition of children and pornography? Italy passed a good law in 2006, but there should be a clearer definition. The possession of child pornography should be a crime.

Did teachers have the obligation to report when they noticed child neglect and abuse? What were the social help measures instated to help these children?

Italy had worked a lot on their legislation, but did it also work on raising awareness among the population about these laws?

Stricter marketing regulations should be created concerning substitute breast milk for infants because a lot of the products contained high levels of sugar and fat.

One expert regretted that smoking tobacco was allowed from aged 16, whereas alcohol was allowed from aged 18.

Response by the Delegation

With regard to poverty, a delegate emphasized that it was a complex issue. Italy had invested a lot in pensions for the elderly but had not spent as much time making sure that lower taxes were levied on poor families.

Italy had 60 bodies examining the issues of adoption and had tremendous grass-roots structures. There was also a national authority for adoption.

With regard to the respect for privacy, if a child was a Muslim, they had of course the right to have appropriate food in the school canteen. The same was also true for prisoners.

A parent could be sent to prison if there was a danger of mental or physical harm to the child; prison was not only applicable once the harm had already been done.

Questions by the Experts

The State party had formulated the goal according to which poverty should be reduced by 2010, but the Committee did not know if that goal had been reached. At the moment, the risk for child poverty in Italy was at 24 per cent, whereas in the rest of the European Union, it was 19 per cent.

Why was there such a long period between the arrest of a person and the trial? Was there a lack of judges or courts? Were children judged in absentia?

Regarding the age of consent for health treatment, was parental consent necessary?

Response by the Delegation

There had been awareness-raising campaigns in schools to sensitize adolescents to the risks linked to drugs and alcohol, the risks to themselves and the risks to other persons.

There was a special type of trial just for juveniles. Somebody could be accused of a crime from the age of 14. There was a new bill that was going to provide for a special prison system just for juveniles. But there had always been special sections for juveniles in prison anyway. The ordinary prison law was based on resocializing and rehabilitation. Police officers, military police officers and judges received special training to deal with children, and special children’s units had been created.

Some children taken to community centres after being arrested did disappear before their trial, because they could not be locked up. But then the sentence was just a piece of paper.

If there was doubt regarding age, children were considered to be children and not adults.

With regard to the percentage of suicides, they seemed to be linked to young people’s malaise between the ages of 14 and 17. There were specific units in hospitals, that had links to schools, and there were also family houses where people could listen to those adolescents.

For medical treatment a teenager almost always needed the consent of the parents, but there were exceptions, for example for abortion. A teenage girl could ask that her parents were not notified if she was having an abortion. A judge would decide whether this wish would be respected or not.

When the parental will was at odds with the child’s will, the provisions were not always clear: some judges said that the child’s will was more important; some supported the parents’ will.

On the subject of teenage pregnancies, there had been a constant decrease in children born to unmarried women.

With regard to breastfeeding, national guidelines were published in 2007. The approach was multifocal, and showed that 81 per cent of mothers giving birth in Italian hospitals breastfed.

Concerning access to health services by non-Italians, the Convention did differentiate between regular and irregular migrants.

With regard to juveniles in Lampedusa, Italy was trying to tackle a humanitarian emergency. There was a Committee in Italy on foreign, unaccompanied juveniles. Most of them were held in accommodation especially for juveniles, and 127 juveniles were in special accommodation, while 500 were held in bridge facilities which provided a transitory situation between the arrival and the placement in communities. A sum of 15 million Euros was available for unaccompanied juveniles in Lampedusa. The individuals had been placed in facilities throughout Italy. If the children did not say they were aged under 18, there were technical examinations to find out how old they were (such as x-rays). Institutions were not taking over the children; there really was a system of taking them into communities.

Questions by the Experts

Did Italy always know where all of the migrant children were or was Italy unable to track them if they went moved to France and other countries?

Response by the Delegation

Of the juveniles arrested, 23.4 per cent had absconded.

There were about 7,000 unaccompanied minors in Italy. The problem with unaccompanied minors was not only linked to the emergency situation due to the migrant landings. If they were minors, they could not be returned to their country of origin, unless an assisted return was organized by the country of origin. Return was only affected if the minor agreed with it; which almost never happened. Children could be wrongfully returned if it was thought that they were over 18. Only 0.4 per cent of unaccompanied children actually originated from Italy. If the minor had joined the education system and they reached the age of 18, they were granted a special authorization to stay in Italy until they turned 21. Then they needed to deal with the residency laws and applications.

Another delegate mentioned Law no. 18; the definition of persons with disabilities had been brought in line with international law. There were tailor-made programs for children with disabilities. Coordinated programs had been put in place between educational staff and medical staff. Also special parental leave was available for parents who had children with learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

Health was almost always under regional supervision: at the national level it was mostly coordination.

Regarding children’s rights in the private sector, it was not always easy to monitor child labour, for example in Chinese shops. It was good that parents were helped if they needed it, but it should not become an obstacle for children.

In response to the question ‘suppose the rights of children were violated in a multinational company abroad, but the headquarters were in Italy, what was being done for this?’ a delegate answered that most of the time multinational firms did not have their headquarters in Italy.

When it came to the enrolment of minors in armed conflict, the new military code had raised the minimal engagement role to 18 years old. For the definition of direct involvement in conflict, the law had to be more clearly defined. The delegation insisted again that enrolment was absolutely not possible under the age of 18. Humanitarian law was part of the training of all military institutions. Moreover, Commanders always had a legal counsel.

Three million Euros had been set aside for the activities of the observatory of childhood, and another fund was set aside for all action planned with regard to countering and preventing paedophile activity. Various ministries were involved in this project and there was a national supervision coordinating regional plans. The definition of the crime was broader than the definition in the Optional Protocol, and included the distribution of child pornography.

A consequence of the 2001 law providing for the closure of child care homes was that all the care homes were closed. Yet the nature of the reconversion had to be monitored. Children had been taken out of those institutions and some institutions still existed but no longer had any children. Law 159 looked at fostering children.

Concluding remarks

PETER GURAN, Committee member acting as the Rapporteur for Italy, commented that Italy had many legislative frameworks to protect children’s rights. However there were a number of new laws and their impact was not yet assessable. The creation of the post of Ombudsman was very important. Mr. Guran was pleased with the decentralization process concerning the care of adolescents. It was important to find the right proportion when reducing budgets if this reduction was absolutely necessary. The Committee now had enough information to formulate concluding recommendations and he did not doubt that they would soon be implemented.

CARLO GIOVANARDI, Under-Secretary of State for the Department of Family Policies at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers thanked the Committee for their help and informed the Experts that additional numbers and data could be sent to them.

For use of the information media; not an official record

CRC11/025E