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Italy court says corruption cases have dramatically increased over past year

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The Italian audit court, Corte del Conti, announced Wednesday that the number of corruption cases in Italy have risen by 229 percent over the past year. Court president Tullio Lazzaro voiced his concerns over the significant increase in public corruption scandals from 2008 to 2009, saying that legal sanctions are no longer a sufficient deterrent to criminal behavior. In recent years, Italy has seen numerous corruption scandals in both the business and political realms. A recent high-profile corruption scandal involves Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, currently facing a possible third corruption charge. Berlusconi, who is already facing two separate trials on charges of corruption and bribery, is accused of embezzlement and tax fraud related to his television company Mediaset, though his lawyers have dismissed any substance to the charges. Berlusconi's son and 11 other members of Mediaset's board are also implicated. A Milan judge will decide if there is enough evidence to hold a trial, which could begin this month. In January, Italian judges postponed a separate corruption trial at Berlusconi's lawyers' request. He is charged with paying his British lawyer David Mills to provide false testimony in two trials involving Mediaset. His tax fraud trial has also been postponed. Berlusconi has been previously acquitted of false accounting and bribery, and has had some other charges against him dropped.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 17, 2010 (boomark / email).