Italy

Italy’s standing national mechanism is the Interministerial Committee for Human Rights (in Italian, Comitato Interministeriale per i Diritti Umani (CIDU)), established by Ministerial Decree and housed within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

CIDU coordinates Italy’s engagement with international and regional human rights mechanisms and includes representatives from nearly all ministries, local governments, and statistical bodies.

INSTITUTIONAL SET UP

The Interministerial Committee for Human Rights (CIDU) was established by Ministerial Decree No. 519/1978 and integrated by Ministerial Decree No. 2000/517/2013 within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation adopted on 5 September 2013 (its Annex concerning membership is being modified in order to include other Ministries and update denomination of some administrations). Law No. 80/1999 provides for its financing and yearly reporting to the Parliament.

CIDU is based within the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has an Interministerial structure.

Composition

CIDU’s members are appointed from their respective Administrations or bodies, at the highest level (by the Minister or his/her Chef of Cabinet or by the Secretary-General or General Directors). CIDU gathers representatives from:

• The Presidency of Council of Ministers, including Department for Equal Opportunities, Department for Family Policies, Department for Publishing, Department for European Policies, as well as the Ministry for Disability, and the National Office Against Racial Discrimination;
• The Ministry of Justice (including from the Department of the Penitentiary Administration);
• The Ministry of the Interior (including representatives from OSCAD (the Observatory on Security Against Acts of Discrimination);
• The Ministry of Defense;
• The Ministry of Health;
• The Ministry of Labour;
• The Ministry of Education;
• The Ministry of University;
• The Ministry of Agriculture;
• The Ministry of Infrastructure & Transports;
• The Ministry of Culture;
• The Ministry of University;
• The Ministry of Environment;
• The Higher Council of the Judiciary (CSM);
• The National Council on Economics and Labour (CNEL);
• Carabinieri Corps;
• Revenue Guard Corps;
• The National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT);
• The National Committee for UNESCO;
• UNICEF-Italy;
• The Italian Society for International Organizations (SIOI);
• The National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI);
• The Union of Italian Provinces (UPI);
• The representatives from the State-Regions Conference.

Secretariat

CIDU has a permanent Secretariat. The CIDU Secretariat includes a Secretary-General, who is an external figure appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and human rights consultants recruited among lawyers and university professors with a sound experience in Human Rights. Finally, three eminent personalities from the academic and scientific world, appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, are also members of CIDU.

Training/induction

Training and induction of NMIRF members depends on their respective Administrations. CIDU Secretariat provides continuous information and updates. The Committee Secretariat provides also specific on-line trainings for member Administrations and other Entities.

Institutional knowledge

Institutional memory is preserved through CIDU’s archive both in paper and electronic, as well as within the hand-over between Presidents.

Methods of work

CIDU holds usually four plenary meetings per year. Moreover, the Committee organizes and coordinates thematic Working Groups meetings aimed at the preparation of reports, country visits, updates of National Action Plans, and periodical oral examinations (such as UPR, CEDAW).

The organization of drafting committees/working groups depends on the activity to be carried out and related deadlines; meetings take place both in person and online.

There are currently no Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) containing the steps followed to collect input from state institutions, draft reports, or perform any other tasks related to the work of the National Mechanism.

MANDATE

CIDU ensures the coordination of the Italian government action with regard to its obligations under international human rights agreements, and in particular the Conventions to which Italy is a party. Within the United Nations framework, CIDU engages with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Committees (Treaty Bodies) established under the various Conventions, as well as the Human Rights Council mechanisms, including Special Procedures and the Universal Periodic Review.

At a regional level, CIDU interacts with the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), based in Vienna, and the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), based in Strasbourg. In these two institutions, CIDU’s President acts as National Liaison Officer (NLO). Within the Council of Europe, CIDU engages also with the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), coordinating the country visits.

CIDU engages with:

• UN Treaty Bodies
• Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
• Special Procedures
• Regional mechanisms such as FRA, ECRI, and CPT

CIDU coordinates country visits, reporting, and follow-up processes.

Process for the preparation of state reports

• The organization of drafting committees/working groups depends on the activity to be carried out and related deadlines; meetings take place both in person and online.
• Collection of information from the relevant ministries and entities is realized through the contact with CIDU’s appointed members within every Administration/body.
• Reports are also submitted to the relevant ministries for verification. Statistic data are provided by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT).
• CIDU ensures that reports/replies deadlines are timely met by constant information sharing with the relevant administrations.

COORDINATION

CIDU holds usually four plenary meetings per year. Moreover, the Committee organizes and coordinates thematic Working Groups meetings aimed at the preparation of reports, country visits, updates of National Action Plans, and periodical oral examinations (such as UPR, CEDAW).

Collection of information from the relevant ministries and entities is realized through the contact with CIDU’s appointed members within every Administration/body. Reports are also submitted to the relevant ministries for verification. Statistic data are provided by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT).

Linkages with the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

CIDU is linked to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and in particular to SDG 16, by fostering the rule of law at a global level, while promoting the compliance of UN human rights treaties. In detail, within UPR III Cycle, the OHCHR matrix, and related SDGs, was used while drafting the Mid-term Report/Plan for the Implementation of the Recommendations. Moreover, the two National Action Plans so far managed by CIDU - Women Peace and Security and Business and Human Rights - include objectives and actions in line with SDGs.

Channels of communication with the National Statistics Office

The Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) is a member of CIDU.

Channels of communication with the Parliament

CIDU engages with the Parliament through regular hearings by the President in front of the Chamber of Deputies’ and Senate’s Commissions for Human Rights. The Committee also submits to the Parliament a yearly report, pursuant to Law 80/1999. Members of the Parliament also participate in delegations at HR-related meetings, such as the UPR and CEDAW sessions.

Channels of communication with the Judiciary

CIDU engages with the Judiciary through both the Ministry of Justice and the Higher Council of Judiciary (in Italian, Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura, CSM), which are represented within the Committee.

CONSULTATION

CIDU consults key non-Governmental stakeholders, in particular within the specific working group coordinating actions within the National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security, by involving NGOs in National Action Planning drafting process, as well as the progress reporting. National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) is involved by CIDU in preparation of relevant country visits or periodic HR-related reporting, in full respect of its autonomy and independence.

CIDU involves the relevant Administrations and bodies by information sharing through email and dedicated subject/task-related partitioning grids.

CIDU is in charge of development and coordination for the Plan for the Implementation of Recommendations (PIR). This was firstly issued under UPR III Cycle, and is available on the OHCHR website).

The Committee also coordinates implementation of the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, and National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.

National action plans, in different areas of human rights are developed by other Administrations, such as the National plan against racism, xenophobia and intolerance (National Anti-Racial Discrimination Office, UNAR), the National Strategic Plan on Male Violence against Women (Department for Equal Opportunities), Three-Year Operational Plan of Action for People with Disabilities (Department for Disabilities), and the National Plan for Childhood and Adolescence (Department for Family Policies).

Interministerial Committee for Human Rights (CIDU) Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Website: www.cidu.esteri.it