Corruption in Italy

[6][7] Political parties are ranked the most corrupt institution in Italy, closely followed by public officials and Parliament, according to Transparency International.

[13] A 2015 Al Jazeera report noted that clientelism and graft have long been cornerstones of the country's political establishment,[14] and a Forbes contributor wrote in 2016 about "the deep-seated nature of unsavoury elements in both private and public sectors" in Italy.

Arising "out of business deals", as Forbes put it, the Mafia historically "acted as a guarantor for contracts, when the judiciary was viewed as weak.

'"[1] One source has described the web of corruption involving politics, business, and the Mafia as "an unholy triangle," adding that it could alternatively be seen as a rectangle, with the Catholic Church being a fourth major participant in the web of corruption, owing to links between the Mafia and Vatican Bank and to "complex money laundering systems" involving banks that manage church funds.

[17] After a 1968 earthquake in Sicily, most of the funds appropriated to replace housing went to "needless construction projects," a fact that underscored the scale of Italian corruption and the influence of the Mafia.

[15] A 1992–94 corruption scandal called Tangentopoli ("Bribe City"), uncovered by the so-called Mani pulite ("Clean hands") investigation, "rocked Italy to its core" and brought down the First Republic.

[16] It is widely believed that two judges, Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone, were murdered in 1992 because of their efforts to punish corrupt ties between the Mafia and politicians.

The Mafia, once confined largely to the south, now operated nationwide and had spread beyond drug trafficking and prostitution to transport, public health, and other industries.

[15] On 3 May 1999, the Italian Parliament passed a bill that for the first time gave to the public administrations the faculty of recruiting their human resources through a competitive examination (Italian: concorso per soli titoli) exclusively based on the previous background of the candidates in terms of academic titles and working CVs, without the provision of any written nor oral test.

[27] Silvio Berlusconi, billionaire, media mogul, and prime minister of Italy for three periods (1994-5, 2001–6, and 2008–11), was frequently accused of corruption.

Convicted of tax fraud in 2012, he was removed from the Italian Senate after the Supreme Court confirmed the verdict the next year, but not imprisoned.

In June 2013 he was found guilty of paying a teenage girl for sex, and of abusing his political power, but the verdict was overturned in 2014.

[23] In the same year, several businessmen were taken into custody on charges of belonging to "a gang involved in kickbacks and dodgy contracts" for high-speed rail lines, Expo 2015, a flood barrier in Venice, and other large-scale projects.

[29][30] Fazio was forced to resign and BPI Managing Director, Gianpiero Fiorani, was arrested on several charges in connection with the attempted takeover, having been accused of using illegal procedures.

[32] In 2006, police investigators revealed that the managers of major Italian football clubs had been colluding with friendly referees to rig games.

Leading officials were shown to have received bribes in exchange for government contracts; former mayor Gianni Alemanno was among those investigated.

[23] A June 2016 report in The Guardian noted that Rome mayoral candidate Virginia Raggi of the Five Star Movement (M5S) was doing well in polls because of her focus on "the corruption and cronyism of Italy's mainstream parties."

In Rome, noted the newspaper, "establishment politicians and officials" were currently "on trial alongside alleged mobsters, charged with conspiring to pocket millions of euros from rigged public contracts."

[35] "The level of corruption we are witnessing in Rome", wrote one observer in 2015, "suggests that Italy needs a major change in mentality, a cultural revolution.

"[14] In 2001, British author and physician Theodore Dalrymple argued that corruption is the "one saving grace" of Italian public administration.

"[36] In a May 2015 article for Open Democracy, Andrea Capussela and Vito Intini noted that Italy's anti-corruption efforts are inadequate and are not pursued with any enthusiasm.

[16] The Italian Anti-Corruption Law of 2012 expanded the definition of corruption and enhanced transparency and disclosure requirements for public-sector workers.

[37] The law banned persons convicted of corruption from running for public office, increased prison sentences for officials convicted of abuse of office or demanding bribes, increased penalties for private-sector corruption, and called for the institution of local anti-corruption plans and greater transparency in hiring and budgets.

[38] The law criminalized influence trading in both the public and private sectors, protected whistleblowers, and prohibited corrupt officials from holding certain administrative positions.

The Code of Conduct of Public Officials includes detailed prescriptions involving transparency, conflicts of interest, and gifts.