Sull’inesistenza di un obbligo internazionale di stand still e la conseguente liceità giuridica internazionale dell’eliminazione del reato d’abuso d’ufficio

On 24 September 2024 the Florence District Court requested the Italian Constitutional Court to rule, inter alia, on the question whether the recent decriminalization of the criminal offence of «abuse of office» is compatible with Italy’s international obligations, as enshrined in the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and, accordingly, whether it is compatible with Article 117(1) of the Italian Constitution. This article aims at demonstrating that the UN Convention Against Corruption does not impose any obligation to criminalize, or not to decriminalize, abuse of office and that, as a consequence, no international wrong can be attributed to Italy. By contrast, should the Constitutional Court hold that the decriminalization of abuse of office is incompatible with the Italian Constitution, Italy would be exposed to the risk of breaching, on different grounds, the principle of legality in criminal matters, as enshrined in Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights.