Overview
- The Turin public prosecutor, Elisa Pazè, filed a memorandum this weekend asking an investigating judge to suspend a criminal case and transmit a constitutional question about the Decreto Sicurezza’s road‑block offence to the Corte Costituzionale.
- Pazè contends the clause that punishes blocking roads “with the body” could conflict with Articles 17 and 40 of the Constitution, which protect the rights of assembly and to strike, and she says traffic slowdowns can be inherent to demonstrations.
- A GIP (investigating judge) now must decide whether to pause the prosecution arising from an autumn highway occupation near Turin and send the legal question to the Constitutional Court, a procedural step that would halt related trials until the court rules.
- Coverage has split along political lines: left‑leaning outlets and some politicians welcomed the challenge as a defence of protest rights, while right‑leaning outlets emphasised Pazè’s past activist ties and framed the move as politically charged.
- The dispute rests on a recent legal change that turned road blockades from an administrative fine into a criminal offence with penalties ranging from short jail terms or fines for individuals to six months–two years’ imprisonment for group blockades, raising immediate questions about enforcement and the balance between public order and protest freedoms.