Italy Grapples with Billions in Uncollected Criminal Fines
A Deep Dive into the Systemic Failures Preventing Effective Penalty Recovery Reveals Significant Gaps in Justice and Accountability.
by George David 10 June 2025
Across Italy, a substantial and persistent problem of uncollected criminal penalties has left billions of euros owed to the State. Statistics indicate that nearly a quarter of all criminal convictions are met solely with monetary fines, applying to offenses such as minor personal injuries resulting from negligence, petty theft, and various workplace safety violations. Meanwhile, half of all adjudicated crimes carry dual punishments, combining imprisonment with a financial penalty, covering more serious offenses like drug trafficking, robbery, fraud, money laundering, and embezzlement. Between 2019 and 2022 alone, courts imposed fines totaling an immense 3.2 billion euros. However, the Italian State’s actual recovery from these substantial penalties amounted to a mere 86.3 million euros, marking an approximate collection rate of just 3 percent. This striking discrepancy, consistent over decades, means that for every 100 euros owed, only three are effectively collected, rendering numerous court judgments without practical consequence.
This systemic failure is largely attributed to a bureaucratic process that has frequently left justice paralyzed. Once a criminal sentence is finalized, the judicial execution registry logs the monetary obligations. The file then moves to Equitalia Giustizia, a state-controlled entity under the Ministry of Economy and Finance, which quantifies and formally registers the debt. Subsequently, the Tax Agency-Collection issues the tax bill. This multi-stage procedure is subject to a strict five-year expiration period from the sentence date, often resulting in the nullification of uncollected debts. This procedural bottleneck has led the Constitutional Court to question the credibility of monetary penalties as a viable alternative to incarceration in Italy.
In an effort to overhaul this cumbersome system, the Cartabia reform was enacted in October 2022. For crimes committed after December 30, 2022, this reform introduced a more direct collection mechanism. Under the new guidelines, the public prosecutor now issues a direct order to the convicted person to pay the fine within 90 days via a PagoPA form. Should payment not be made, the supervisory magistrate is empowered to convert the unpaid fine into alternative penalties, such as semi-liberty or community service. Early data suggests this reformed approach has led to improved collection rates, representing a step forward. Yet, for Italy to achieve collection percentages on par with other developed nations, a significant expansion of staff within the supervisory magistrate’s offices is deemed essential for effectively converting these unpaid fines.
Despite the recent reforms, specific challenges continue to impede full recovery. Cases involving smuggling, for instance, remain particularly complex, even under the new Cartabia procedures for customs offenses. A primary hurdle is the frequent difficulty in tracing foreign offenders, who often become untraceable. Furthermore, the Cartabia reform notably excluded the bureaucratic framework for legal expenses from its streamlining efforts. These costs continue to be handled as standard credits, transferred to the Tax Agency-Collection for recovery through conventional means. A more efficient alternative, as suggested by experts, would be to quantify these legal expenses directly within the original sentence itself, establishing fixed, quickly payable amounts. The ongoing failure to collect the vast majority of these imposed penalties places a significant financial burden on the wider community, effectively forcing citizens to bear the cost of unpunished crimes and legal inefficiencies.
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