Italy
Practice Relating to the Prohibition of Certain Types of Landmines
Italy’s Law on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines (1997) provides:
1. It is forbidden to use, for whatever purpose, all types of anti-personnel mines, with the exception of the quantity provided for by Article 5, Paragraph 1, and for the exclusive use in demining operations training [and the development of new mines for their destruction under article 5 of Law No.374 of 29 October 1997, under the control of responsible commands, who may transfer them elsewhere when necessary for their custody].
2. It is forbidden to pursue technological research, to manufacture, sell, transfer for whatever purpose, export, import, stockpile anti-personnel mines of all types or composition, or their components.
3. It is forbidden to use and transfer, for whatever purpose, patent rights for the manufacture of antipersonnel mines or their components, in Italy and abroad, directly or indirectly, and to use and transfer, for whatever purpose, technologies suitable to manufacture antipersonnel mines and their components.
Italy, Law on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines, 1997, Article 1.
In November 1993, the Italian Government stopped authorizing the export of anti-personnel landmines. On 2 August 1994, a unilateral moratorium on the production and trade of anti-personnel landmines was adopted. On 20 January 1995, Italy deposited its instrument of ratification of the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and its Protocol II on mines.
Landmine Monitor Report 1999: Toward a Mine-Free World, available at http://www.the-monitor.org/index.php/publications/display?act=submit&pqs_year=1999&pqs_type=lm&pqs_report=italy&pqs_section=.
Italy participated in the International Strategy Conference “Towards a Global Ban on Anti-personnel Mines” in October 1996 which started the “Ottawa Process” which led to the adoption of a treaty banning anti-personnel landmines. Prior to that, at the UN General Assembly, the Foreign Minister, Lamberto Dini, had announced Italy’s decision to give up the production, trade and stockpiling of anti-personnel landmines. On 13 June 1997, just before the Brussels Conference on Anti-personnel Landmines, the government announced that Italy would completely renounce anti-personnel landmines, including their use.
Landmine Monitor Report 1999: Toward a Mine-Free World, available at http://www.the-monitor.org/index.php/publications/display?act=submit&pqs_year=1999&pqs_type=lm&pqs_report=italy&pqs_section=; “To integrate the measures already adopted in terms of renouncing production and export of such weapons, and of starting their destruction, the Cabinet has agreed on the need to renounce completely the operational use of antipersonnel landmines. This decision, while responding to the strong call of national and international public opinion, has been adopted to help achieve a solid international understanding and a definite solution to the plight posed by antipersonnel landmines”, Cabinet Communiqué, Rome, 13 June 1997.
