Criminal Penalties For Non-Compliance With COVID-19 Containment Measures

Just over a week after the entry into force of the measures to contain the contagion issued by the Prime Minister Decree dated 8th and 9th March 2020, the entire population has now been having direct experience of the severe limitations imposed on people's right to freedom.

Indeed, the provisions of the decree have temporarily banned a wide range of actions, among which the ban of movement within the national territory is only one of the most significant and conditioning examples.

At least until next 3rd April, any movement of persons within the entire national territory will be allowed exclusively for: a ) proven work needs; b ) situations of necessity; c ) health reasons; d ) return to their domicile, home or residence.

Up to that time, those who will move must be provided with a self -certification which demonstrates the existence of one of those conditions in order to acknowledge the Police, during controls, the reasons why they are moving.

As the days go by, it is becoming more and more evident that such self-certification will assume, together with the other behavioural prescriptions provided for in the Decree, a primary role both in the implementation of the containment strategy and in everyone's daily life.

Therefore, it is crucial to clarify the criminal consequences of noncompliance with the prescriptions, as well as the criminal consequences for the issuance of misleading declarations in a selfcertification, also considering what has been said and written in recent days. Such explanations will focus on the most frequent daily life cases and on the new version of the self-certification issued by the Ministry of the Interior on March 17th, containing an addition that could give rise to some misunderstanding.

CRIMINAL CONSEQUENCES OF NONCOMPLIANCE WITH THE MEASURES AIMED TO CONTAIN THE CONTAGION

Does anyone who is stopped by the Police without the necessary self-certification commit a criminal offence?

It is necessary to distinguish the case of those who are not provided with a self-certification but are in a condition that allows them to move, and those who - quite differently - are not in possession of self-certification because their movement is not allowed.

In the first case, such lack of self-certification is purely formal (since there is no provision provided for in the Prime Ministerial Decree requiring self-certification at the time of the control) and the person concerned should be allowed to fill in a copy on site; in the...