The Keeper of the Seals said this when answering a question at question time, explaining that there are only technical issues that need to be remodulated
“The crime of torture is a heinous crime and we have every intention of maintaining it. The government has no intention of repealing it.” This was stated by Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, answering a question at question time, explaining that there are only technical issues that need to be remodulated. The Keeper of the Seals then explained that there are two “technical deficiencies” of the crime of torture to be addressed in particular.
The first risk
The first is that while the New York Convention “restricts the conduct of torture to those characterized by specific malice”, i.e. implemented “to obtain a further result, in this case information, punish or discriminate”, “our legislator, opting for a criminal figure characterized by generic intent, has eliminated the distinctive fact of torture compared to other ill-treatments, making the risk of seeing the provision applied to cases of suffering caused during lawful police operations concrete”.
The crime of torture will remain
The second technical shortcoming is that “the crime of the criminal figures of torture and inhuman and degrading ill-treatment, considered on an international level as distinct figures deserving of differentiated treatment, has merged into a single case”. “Subjecting the two offenses to the same sanctioning treatment is an unreasonable choice and not imposed by international constraints”. “These are technical issues but I can assure you, my word of honour, that the crime of torture will remain”, concluded the minister.
Source-tg24.sky.it