............... 
..
 ...
It's a regular occurrence in our country the polemic concerning freedom of the press, mainly since the Tangentopoli cyclone has started an enquiry season wherein the uncontrolled rumours, interrogatories and arrests of prominent public figures appeared in advance on the major newspapers. In this high-tension climate between policy and magistracy, the press has had and still has a certainly important but a high-risk role. 
Often newspapers have spread not tested news so that notification of investigation turns sometime into an in advanced verdict. Nevertheless we should not forget that at the same time this phenomenon, it has developed the easy libel system against reporters. In the past who only wanted to protect his own image  applying to magistracy, used to devolve, in the case of a favour sentence, what gained with actions to charity work. Nowadays  the easy libel has become instead a source of incomes, since newspapers at law are required of billionaire compensations for damages. 
The problem is to plant paying all attention to the jurisprudence. Emblematic, this sense , is a some year ago sentence. The Court of Venice - First Section (sentence N. 659/96 delivered on October 16th 1996 - All. N. 5), carrying out an accusation-action brought by the Prosecuting Magistrate c/o Magistrate's Court of Trento, has acquitted the columnists and the Director of the daily newspaper “L'Adige” quoting the follow grounds of the judgement: 
“...as it is well-known, in asserting the right of chronicle (meaning that the divulgation of the objective narration of facts merely aimed to information) constitutes , according to the disposals of both art. 21 Cost. and 51 CP.C., a cause of  justification for the offences that, due to its assertion, it could be brought to other's reputation.
It is on the other side quite settled, within doctrine as well as in jurisprudence, that the existence of such cause could be recognised only toward narration that: 
1) must correspond to a present and public interest concerning the divulgation of facts;  
2) must report facts, rigorously true; 
3) must result temperate within the expressing form 

Supporting this sentence there's another one , dated October 3rd 1986, delivered by the Court of Rome, where it is written: 
“A subject's public position, and particularly a magistrate's position, must allow the assertion of the right to criticise and the journalistic chronicle right as wide as possible, for it is essential, within any democratic organisation, the information freedom about public activities concerning who exercises  the judicial power. Even the information related to the “homo publicus” finds however its limits in the truth of the news, the public's interest and property of language “. 
One of the cruxes of the matter remains so the one related to the interpretation, often conflicting, given by the several Courts, about the article mentioned hereabove. It outcome the need and the importance to modify the crime procedure code, in its part concerning the mentioned matter, so to settle , by the mean of clear words, the stakes the defence and judges must move within when applying norms. The aim is to prevent too subjective interpretations and so to safeguard citizens. 
Nevertheless, on our opinion, waiting modifications being carried out by legislator, to safeguard reporters from easy libel subjects, it would be advisable to adopt against them the news blackout. This point, the damaged undergone by this public charges subjects - risen to fame throughout the decisive support of press  - would be greater, but this time not impugnable.

 
 Leadership Medica®  
  Mensile di scienza  medica e attualita`  
 Copyright 1997© All Rights Reserved 
 
 This pages are maintened by  
GTM Grafica 
Service & Network 
gtmgraph@coloseum.com