TESI COMPLETA Corretta Petrella
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Department of Political Science Chair in Comparative Public Law Is the Press Truly Free? A Comparative Analysis of the Relationship Between the Rule of Law and the Freedom of the Press in Malta, Slovakia and Italy Professor Cristina Fasone Professor Lorenzo Castellani SUPERVISOR CO-SUPERVISOR Beatrice Petrella CANDIDATE Academic Year 2019/2020 “Quam similia sint latrociniis regna absque iustitia.” Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis, De Civitate Dei Contra Paganos “The state without rights is a gang of bandits.” Saint Augustine, The City of God against the Pagans 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 6 Chapter I- The Rule of Law ........................................................................................................................ 8 1.1.1 Defining the Rule of Law ................................................................................................................ 8 1.1.2 The importance of the Rule of Law ........................................................................................... 16 1.2 Defining the Rule of Law in the European Union Context ............................................................. 17 1.2.1 Characteristics of the Rule of Law: the Rule of Law Checklist ................................................. 21 1.2.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of a Common Framework for the Rule of Law ..................... 24 1.3 The Relationship between the Rule of Law and the Freedom of the Press ................................... 28 1.3.1 Defining the Freedom of the Press ........................................................................................... 28 1.3.2 Why systemic infringements of the Freedom of the Press are intrinsically linked to the erosion of the Rule of Law ............................................................................................................................. 33 Chapter II- Malta: Ius Pecuniae and Power Concentration ..................................................................... 37 2.1 Brief analysis of the Maltese Constitution ...................................................................................... 37 2.1.1 History and rationale ................................................................................................................. 37 2.1.2 Limitations to the Rule of Law ................................................................................................. 39 2.1.3 Lack of constitutional protection of the Freedom of the Press ................................................ 48 2.2 Ius Pecuniae and its relationship with the Rule of Law ................................................................. 52 2.2.1 Defining the Ius Pecuniae ........................................................................................................ 52 2.2.2 The Impact of the Ius Pecuniae on the European Union ........................................................ 57 2.3 The Murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia: how the Rule of Law was compromised in Malta ........ 64 2.3.1 The Role of the Labour Party ................................................................................................... 64 2.3.2 Daphne Project: how to Raise Awareness on the Infringement of the Freedom of the Press and the Erosion of the Rule of Law in Malta .................................................................................... 67 2.3.3 Recent Developments ............................................................................................................... 67 2.3.4 How the European Union reacted ........................................................................................... 69 Chapter III- Slovakia: Lack of Transparency and Misuse of European Union Funds ........................... 72 3.1 Brief Analysis of the Slovakian Constitution ................................................................................... 72 3.1.1 History and Rationale ............................................................................................................... 72 3.1.2 Limitations to the Rule of Law ................................................................................................. 74 3.1.3 The importance of Art. 26: the establishment of the Freedom of the Press ............................. 77 3.2 The Murder of the Investigative Journalist Ján Kuciak and the Implications for the Erosion of the Rule of Law ........................................................................................................................................... 82 3.2.1 The Murder and Political Reactions ......................................................................................... 82 3.2.2 The Reactions of the European Union ..................................................................................... 86 3.2.3 Recent Developments ............................................................................................................... 88 Chapter IV- Italy: Between Police Protection and Media Concentration ................................................ 95 4.1 Brief analysis of the Italian Constitution ......................................................................................... 95 4.1.1 History and rationale ................................................................................................................. 95 4.1.2 Challenges to the Rule of Law in Italy ...................................................................................... 97 4.1.3 The importance of Art. 21: the establishment of the Freedom of the Press ............................ 103 4.1.4 From Censorship to Media Concentration .............................................................................. 106 4.2 Journalists under police protection: how this phenomenon affects the Rule of Law in Italy ....... 112 4.2.1 Criteria to assign police protection: the establishment of UCIS ............................................. 112 4 4.2.2 Development of UCIS and political reactions ......................................................................... 114 4.3 Being under special surveillance: Federica Angeli, Lirio Abbate and Paolo Borrometi ............... 116 4.3.1 Federica Angeli: Fighting the Gypsy Mafia in Your Backyard ............................................... 116 4.3.2 Lirio Abbate: from Provenzano’s arrest to Mafia Capitale ...................................................... 119 4.3.3 Paolo Borrometi: “The Mafia does not forget” ....................................................................... 120 4.3.4 What does the number of journalists under police protection tell us about the state of the Rule of Law in Italy .......................................................................................................................... 121 Academic Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. 128 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................. 129 Appendix: Interviews ............................................................................................................................... 130 References ................................................................................................................................................ 135 Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 149 5 Introduction Last summer I interviewed Matthew Caruana Galizia, Daphne Caruana Galizia’s son. We were talking about the current situation in Malta after the murder of his mother, and he said something crucial: murders like that eventually lead to the general erosion of the Rule of Law besides fundamentally violating the fundamental rights – notably the right to life – of the targeted individual. These words remained stuck in my head. In 2018, another similar case happened: investigative journalist Ján Kuciak was murdered in Slovakia with his fiancée. As a result, I decided to focus my final dissertation on the relationship between the Rule of Law and the Freedom of the Press, the former being a fundamental value of the European Union and the latter a crucial right to be protected in any country where the Rule of Law is deemed respected. The Role of the Freedom of the Press is fundamental in a democratic context. It makes information available to people that they otherwise wouldn’t have. The white paper on a European Communication Policy, presented by the Commission in 2006, stated that both the right to information and freedom of expression are at the heart of democracy in Europe. These rights are analysed in the EU Treaties and in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. According to the Commission, these rights are also the starting point to create a new strategy for Communication Policy in Europe. Moreover, the Commission demanded for more Freedom of the Press, plurality and citizens’ participation in communication. In the EU it is commonly accepted that the Freedom of the Press, pluralism and participation are considered pillars of democracy. Hence, it is important to support and protect them. However, even if stated many times, the Member States of the European Union implement the Freedom of the Press in different ways,