TheMitterrand doctrine (French:Doctrine Mitterrand) is a policy established in 1985 by French PresidentFrançois Mitterrand, of theSocialist Party, concerningItalianfar-left terrorists who fled toFrance: those convicted for violent acts in Italy, excluding "active, actual, bloody terrorism" during the "Years of Lead", would not beextradited to Italy.
The Mitterrand Doctrine was softened in 2002, under the government ofJean-Pierre Raffarin during the presidency ofJacques Chirac, whenPaolo Persichetti [it] was extradited from France. However, it continued to remain in effect, with the extradition of 10 far-left terrorists from France to Italy blocked by the FrenchCourt of Cassation in 2023.
Mitterrand defined his doctrine during a speech at thePalais des sports inRennes on February 1, 1985. Mitterrand excluded active terrorists from the protection. On 21 April 1985, at the 65th Congress of theHuman Rights League (LDH), he declared that Italian criminals who had broken with their violent past and had fled toFrance would be protected from extradition toItaly:
"Italian refugees (...) who took part in terrorist action before 1981 (...) have broken links with the infernal machine in which they participated, have begun a second phase of their lives, have integrated into French society (...) I told the Italian government that they were safe from any sanction by the means of extradition".[1]
The policy statement was followed by French justice when it came to the extradition of far-left Italian terrorists or activists. According to a 2007 article by theCorriere della Sera, Mitterrand was convinced byAbbé Pierre to protect those persons.[2] According toCesare Battisti's lawyers, Mitterrand had given his word in consultation with the Italian prime minister, the fellow socialistBettino Craxi.[3]
The commitment long took the place of general policy of extradition of activists and Italian terrorists until it ceased to be in force after the extradition of Paolo Persichetti in 2002, a former member of theRed Brigades, which was approved by theRaffarin government. TheCesare Battisti case, in particular, has provoked debate about the interpretation of the doctrine.
Opponents of the doctrine point out that what a president can say during his tenure is not a source of law and so the doctrine has no legal value. Proponents point out that it was nevertheless consistently applied until 2002 and consider that the former president had committed the country by his words.
Its supporters (intellectuals likeFred Vargas orBernard-Henri Lévy, organizations such asthe Greens, theHuman Rights League,France Libertés [fr],Attac-France [fr] etc.), along with some personalities of theSocialist Party (PS), are opposed to noncompliance by theright in power with the Mitterrand doctrine.
The doctrine has been strongly criticized by the Italian Association of Victims of Terrorism (Associazione italiana vittime del terrorismo [it] orAIVITER), which in 2008 expressed particular
pain for the consequences of the Mitterrand doctrine and the attitude of French leftist intellectuals.[4]
French PresidentJacques Chirac said that he would not oppose the extradition of persons wanted by the Italian courts.
The Mitterrand doctrine was based on the supposed superiority of French law and its alleged greater adherence to European standards and principles concerning the protection of human rights[citation needed], especially with regard to in absentia trials. Italy at the time did not guarantee a second trial after anin absentia trial, which meant that convicted people extradited to Italy might never be able to defend themselves in person. By comparison, France allowed a second trial through the process ofpurgation in the absence.
However, in 2001 theEuropean Court of Human Rights (EHCR) ruled[5] that the Frenchpurgation in the absence process also violated Article 6 of the European Convention[6] (the right to a fair trial), because the person had no lawyer defending them at the firstin absentia trial.[7] In response, in 2004 France amended its procedure forin absentia trials to allow for defence by a lawyer.[8] The currentin absentia procedure is defined aspar défaut and allows for the defence by a lawyer.[9]
In 2002, France extradited Paolo Persichetti, an ex-member of the communist terrorist groupRed Brigades (BR) who was teaching sociology at the university, in breach of the Mitterrand doctrine. However, in 1998,Bordeaux'sappeal court had judged thatSergio Tornaghi could not be extradited to Italy on the grounds that Italian procedure would not organise a second trial after the first trialin absentia. The extraditions in the 2000s decade involved not only members of the Red Brigades but also other leftist activists who had fled to France and were being sought by Italian justice. They includedAntonio Negri, who eventually chose to return to Italy and surrender to Italian authorities.
In 2004, French judicial officials authorised the extradition ofCesare Battisti. In 2005 theConseil d'État confirmed the extradition and softening the Mitterrand doctrine. Nonetheless, Battisti had already fled to Mexico and subsequently to Brazil, where he lived as fugitive for the following 14 years. In 2018, when Brazil revoked his protection, he fled again to Bolivia and unsuccessfully sought asylum. He was arrested and extradited to Italy to expiate his sentence of life imprisonment for four murders.
In 2005,Gilles Martinet, an old socialist intellectual and former ambassador to Italy, wrote in the preface to a book that was dedicated to the Battisti case, "Not being able to make a revolution in our country, we continue to dream of it elsewhere. It continues to exist the need to prove ourselves that we are always on the left and that we have not departed from the ideal".[10]
In 2021, 10 far-left Italian terrorists in France were arrested, with plans made to extradite them to Italy. The terrorists facing extradition were convicted of acts including murders and kidnappings. French authorities stated that their extradition would fall in line with the Mitterrand doctrine, as it did not necessarily apply to violent criminals. However, France'sCourt of Cassation rejected the extradition attempt in 2023, allowing the 10 terrorists to remain within France.[11][12]
As of 2021, Italy continued to seek the extradition of roughly 200 people residing in France.[11]
The list of Italians who benefited from the Mitterrand doctrine include:
The Mitterrand doctrine was supported by French intellectuals[14] on the alleged nonconformity of Italian legislation with European standards and, in the 21st century, the age of the fugitives.[11]
The French President opposed aspects of theanti-terrorist laws passed in Italy during the 1970s and the 1980s that created the status ofcollaboratore di giustizia" ("collaborators with justice" known commonly aspentito), similar to thecrown witness legislation in theUnited Kingdom and theWitness Protection Program in theUnited States in which people charged with crimes may become witnesses for the state and possibly receive reduced sentences and protection.
Italian legislation also provided that if a defendant can conduct his defence via his lawyers, trials heldin absentia did not need to be repeated if he was eventually apprehended. The Italianin absentia procedure was upheld by theEuropean Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
