The Italian parliament has given final approval to the government’s controversial security decree, a sweeping package of measures that toughens penalties for protesters, reinforces police powers, and introduces incentives for lawyers to facilitate migrant repatriation. The vote, which saw 162 in favour and 102 against, came after a marathon parliamentary session marked by opposition filibustering and accusations that the legislation was being rammed through with little regard for democratic scrutiny. Within hours of the final ballot, the cabinet convened to approve a corrective decree, an extraordinary measure that underscores the haste with which the original text was assembled.

At the heart of the uproar was Article 30bis, the provision offering financial incentives to lawyers who successfully persuade migrants to accept voluntary repatriation. The Quirinale had expressed constitutional reservations about the measure, and legal bodies including the Consiglio superiore della magistratura and the National Bar Council had raised serious objections. The government, however, dismissed these criticisms as misunderstandings, and the article remained in the final text only to be immediately addressed in a separate decree. This episode has fuelled broader critiques about the quality of the legislation. The parliamentary Committee for Legislation itself issued a series of critical observations regarding the clarity and urgency of the text, yet the government proceeded to impose a confidence vote that blocked any amendments.

Beyond the incentive scheme, the decree contains a range of provisions that have alarmed civil liberties advocates. It introduces a so-called “penal shield” for law enforcement officers, extends prison terms for those who occupy buildings, and reinforces the legal framework for the use of detention facilities in Albania for repatriation purposes, a policy that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has publicly defended. The opposition, led by the Democratic Party, argued that the entire process represented an affront to constitutional norms, with one deputy mockingly proposing to rename the parliament “the crushing chamber”.

Viewed from European capitals, the episode deepens concerns about the trajectory of Italian internal security policy under the current government. The use of corrective decrees to patch over constitutionally questionable provisions creates a precedent that may test the limits of parliamentary procedure and judicial oversight. For now, the government has secured its political victory, but the legal and reputational costs of such hastily drafted legislation may yet reverberate in the months ahead, particularly if the European Court of Justice or Italian constitutional court is called upon to rule on the disputed clauses.