ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Alessandro Pistochini, Davide Giorgiadi, Giulia Barattini and Carlotta Scozia, Pistochini Avvocati Studio Legale
6.4 Protection Afforded to Whistle-Blowers and 6.5 Incentives Provided to Whistle-Blowers . 6.3 Self-Disclosure Procedures Self-Disclosure for Individuals For individuals who want to self-disclose about their own irregularities, the possibility of self- reporting is grounded in everyone’s right to pro - vide testimony or to approach the competent authority. Self-Disclosure for Legal Entities For legal entities, self-disclosure procedures are regulated by the whistle-blowing legislation. Decree No 24/2023 reshaped the Italian regula - tion on whistle-blowing by dealing with both the public and private sector in the same legislative act. It was approved on 10 March 2023, and its provisions were effective as of 15 July 2023 (as of 17 December 2023 for private sector entities that employed an average of fewer than 250 workers in the last year). The Decree implements the principles and dic - tates of EU Directive 2019/1937 of the Europe - an Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019, on the protection of persons who report breaches of EU law and of persons who report breaches of national laws. Legislative Decree No 24/2023 has reformed the regulation of reporting channels not only by enhancing protections for whistle-blowers, but also by expanding the obligations and specify - ing the methods for managing information and documentation related to reports of unlawful conduct. It is mandatory that public and private entities establish reporting channels managed by spe - cially trained personnel, and that they implement a reporting platform.
take into account the seriousness of the offence and the individual’s attitude to the crime). Sanc - tions are increased in the event of a repeat of the crime, in accordance with Article 99 of the ICC. Articles 11, 14 and 20 of Legislative Decree No 231/2001 state similar principles for the admin - istrative liability of legal entities.
6. Disclosure Processes 6.1 Disclosure Obligations
In the Italian criminal system, there is no obliga - tion for individuals who are not public officials or companies to report bribery or other crimes against the public administration, of which they become aware, to the judicial authority. 6.2 Voluntary Disclosure Incentives Regarding the incentives provided by the legal system for reporting acts of corruption, it is important to highlight the presence of two par - ticularly advantageous legal instruments for indi - viduals. The two special mitigating circumstances are outlined in Article 323-bis, paragraph 2, of the Criminal Code and Article 323-ter of the Crimi - nal Code. Specifically, the first applies when the perpetrator has co-operated with justice, while the second is a cause for non-punishment that applies to those who, before becoming aware of an investigation against them, voluntarily report themselves for corruption within four months. For more details, see 7.4 Discretion for Mitiga- tion and Aggravation . Regarding the liability of entities, legislative Decree 231/01 provides protection measures for whistle-blowers, who can report illegal activities without fear of retaliation. For more details, see
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