second book

 

ON MILITARY OFFENCE AND PUNISHMENT IN GENERAL.

 

Title I

 

GENERAL PROVISIONS.

 

Art. 25. Place of execution of the death sentence (1).

 

During the state of war, the death sentence shall be executed in the place established by the unit command where the military court which passed the sentence is located, except as otherwise prescribed by law.

 

(1) The punishment has been cancelled in respect to crimes made punishable by special laws, other than wartime military laws (article 1, first sub-section, decree law n. 21 of 22.01.1948). Article 1 of Law n. 589 of October 13, 1994 establishes that in respect to offences punishable under the military penal code of war and the military laws of war, the death penalty has been abolished and commuted to the maximum punishment prescribed under the penal code.

 

Art. 26. Mitigated punishments owing to serious injury or acts of military valour.

 

In case of serious physical injury suffered by the culprit in action or during war duties, or in case of acts of valour performed in the same circumstances, the established punishment may be reduced as follows:

1) a death sentence with demotion (1) and a life sentence may be commuted into confinement from ten to twenty years;

2) a sentence to be shot in the chest may be commuted into military confinement from six to fifteen years;

3) the other punishments may be reduced by a third to two thirds.

 

(1) See note at article 25.

 

Art. 27. Publication of the verdict of guilty.

 

Unless otherwise directed by the judge, an abstract of the death sentence (1) or life sentence pronounced by a Court Martial for treason, espionage or desertion to the enemy or in the enemy’s presence, shall be published and posted in the places designated by the peacetime military penal code as well as in the municipal office of the last place of residence/abode of the convict.

 

(1) See note at article 25.

 

Art. 28. Commander’s power to remit punishments.

 

In wartime, the supreme commander, by issuing individual orders, has the power to remit any terms of confinement not exceeding one year and any money penalties adjudged by Courts Martial.

The commander of an expeditionary force during war operations outside Europe has the same power.

The remit is null and void if, in wartime, the convict commits a malicious offence punishable by confinement under the law, or a more severe punishment.

 

 

 

 

Title II

 

ON DEFERRED EXECUTION OF CONFINEMENT

AND ADDITIONAL PUNISHMENTS.

 

 

 

Art. 29. Confinement.

 

Except as provided under article 32, the execution of confinement for not more than ten years, inflicted by any judge for any offence, shall be deferred if the convict committed the offence while serving with mobilized units or if he was assigned to such units after committing the offence.

The minister who has authority over the convict or the Supreme Commander, if the convict is subordinate to him, having heard the Military Attorney General of the Italian Republic, may order to defer the execution of any term of temporary confinement also in other cases than those mentioned in the previous subsection.

In wartime, a deferred execution of punishment under the previous subsections does not prevent the execution of punishments inflicted by successive sentences from being deferred.

 

 

Art. 30. Suspension from duty and privation of rank.

 

In the cases in which the execution of punishment is deferred under the previous article, also the execution of the additional punishments of suspension from duty and privation of rank is deferred.

 

Art. 31. Demotion.

 

Any military person who has been demoted as a result of a sentence to confinement, whose execution has been deferred under article 29, shall continue to serve with the armed forces as long as the punishment is not executed and in that period demotion will produce the effects of dismissal.

 

Art. 32. Conditions barring deferment of punishment execution.

 

Deferment of punishment execution cannot be ordered or, if ordered, is annulled:

1) if the convict is no longer serving with the armed forces for any reason or has become permanently unfit to carry out war duties, unless his unfitness is due to physical injury suffered or illness caught in action or during war duties;

2) if the convict’s enlistment has been declared void.

 

Art. 33. Deduction of the term of service with special combat units from the term of confinement.

 

If a person sentenced to confinement, whose execution has been deferred, is assigned to special combat units as a result of his condition, his term of service with the special combat unit shall be deducted from his term of confinement.

 

 

Art. 34. Deferred execution of punishment of persons unrelated to the armed forces.

 

If the supreme commander believes that a person unrelated to the armed forces performs indispensable and irreplaceable functions in facilities or corps ready for war, to which that person is assigned, the commander, having heard the Military Attorney General of the Italian Republic, may order to defer the temporary confinement inflicted to the above person.

The same power is exercised by the commanders in chief of the maritime and air forces within the scope of their respective commands.

 

 

Art. 35. Deferment of punishment execution in relation to its extinction.

 

The period of deferment of a punishment execution under the previous articles is not taken into account when reckoning the length of the term of punishment in view of its extinction.

 

 

At the end of the state of war, except as provided under Title III of this code, confinement and the additional punishments of suspension from duty and privation of rank, whose execution has been deferred under the previous articles, shall be executed.

In addition, if the sentence to confinement whose execution has been deferred includes demotion, the convict shall be separated from the armed forces.

 

 

Art. 37. Execution: commutation of punishments. Enemy prisoners of war.

 

When a sentence must be executed under the previous articles during or after a state of war, the provisions of the Peacetime Military Penal Code on commutation of punishments apply.

If convicts are prisoners of war, article 166 applies.

 

 

 

 

Title III

 

ON SPECIAL CASES OF EXTINCTION OF OFFENCE.

 

 

Art. 38. Extinction due to the convict’s conduct.

 

At the end of the state of war, an offence is extinguished if the offender sentenced to military confinement for not more than three years, whose execution has been deferred under articles 29 and 34, has not committed any further offence and has not been repeatedly subject to very severe disciplinary punishments after the sentence.

In that case, the main punishment is not executed and the sentence has no longer any penal effects.

 

 

Art. 39. Sentences for offences provided for in the common criminal law.

 

The previous article is also applicable to sentences to confinement for not more than two years inflicted for offences provided for in the common criminal law.

 

Art. 40. Extinction of offence due to acts of valour.

 

Even before the end of the state of war, an offence is extinguished if the offender, sentenced to a punishment whose execution has been deferred under articles 29 and 34, has obtained a promotion for war merit or an award for bravery owing to acts of personal valour performed after the sentence. In that case, article 38, second subsection is applicable.

 

 

Art. 41. Concurrence of punishments in case of annulled deferment.

 

The provisions on concurrence of punishments are applicable in case of annulled deferment of execution of punishments inflicted by more than one sentence.