Andrea Orlando

"The kidnapping of Moro must be reflected upon at all times because it serves as a reference point for our democracy and a constant reminder not to let our guard down against all the dangers that could undermine it."

"Events that occur at the supranational level, entities that have been established at the supranational level, often without democratic legitimacy, are capable of presenting democracies with a fait accompli. Let me give you an example: the amendment to the Constitution regarding the requirement for a balanced budget, which I must say went largely unnoticed, was not the result of a national debate, but rather the result of the European Central Bank more or less saying – and I'm simplifying here – “Either you put this clause in your constitution, or we will turn off the taps and there will be no salaries at the end of the month”. I must say that this is one of the choices I am most ashamed of having made."

"We must profoundly change the way we enforce punishment, and we are doing so: our punishment is closely linked to prison, and for a long time it was said that prison was the solution to all ills: instead, we must shift towards financial penalties because a mafia member or a corrupt individual has relatively little fear of spending a month in prison if they can pocket a few million euros; they are afraid if you threaten to take away their money and perhaps even their house: I believe we must move in this direction."

"It is fair to ask whether the Italian legal system is capable of withstanding the impact of such profound changes in the global arena, while inevitably paying the price, as mentioned above, for the increasingly narrow limits of the national dimension. The constitutional framework continues to offer important protection for fundamental rights. Contrary to the foreign-influenced suggestions that often emerge in our country, Italy is appreciated for the balance it has achieved between security requirements and the defence of constitutional guarantees, whereas other states have adopted strategies that have resulted in a sharp limitation of citizens' rights. The same can be said for the objective of maintaining and guaranteeing the autonomy and independence of the judiciary, the mandatory nature of criminal proceedings, and the regulatory provisions on appeals, which still offer important legal protection for citizens' rights. Historically created to curb the abuses of executive power, this robust legal and institutional framework now acts as a bulwark against dangerous populist tendencies that undermine the levels of legal civilisation achieved by our country."

"Today, I feel I can claim significant progress has been made in terms of certain fundamental rights and that I can represent with conviction the values for which we have worked. The law on civil unions, which has now been implemented, is inspired by the value of effective equality in secularism. We now have a law that represents a turning point in civilisation for our country. The law on assistance for people with severe disabilities who lack family support is oriented towards the value of protecting vulnerable people. The same law finally introduces, for the first time in our legal system, a generalised system of compensation for victims of intentional violent crimes. I believe this is also an important sign of civilisation. So too is the law that tackles the hateful phenomenon of “caporalato”, approved last year, a phenomenon that undermines the dignity and value of workers. It is also our duty to safeguard fundamental guarantees in the area of reception and the right to asylum."

"One of the leading contemporary scholars of law and the state, Ronald Dworkin, wrote: “Equal respect is the sovereign virtue of the political community: if it is lacking, government is merely tyranny; but when a nation's wealth is distributed very unequally, as is currently the case even in very prosperous nations, then its equal respect appears suspect”. So, if we want to give our fellow citizens the equal respect they deserve in the law and in the exercise of jurisdiction, we must take action to ensure that the nation's wealth is not distributed very unequally."

"We have known for years that Salvini had decided to fan the flames of people's fears about the wave of migration. Now we have discovered that Di Maio and the Five Star Movement are doing the same."

"The Tar must be changed without demonising it, clarifying the scope of competence of politics and that of the administrative court, which often gets involved in decisions that should be made by politicians."

"I believe that recognising that the mafia is no longer confined to its traditional areas of operation, that it acts using financial instruments, and that it infiltrates the economy, political parties and society in different contexts, is a useful sign of awareness. The mafia has become a large multinational organisation with links to criminal organisations in other countries. We need new tools to combat it."

"With the anti-Mafia code, we have strengthened the tools for attacking illicit assets, which in my opinion continues to be the main front, and we have introduced the offence of self-laundering, which allows us to intervene even when the accumulation of capital dates back a long time. However, we are still in the realm of repression."

"Interviewer: How can we combat the Mafia? Andrea Orlando: By not only focusing on how to combat the Mafia, but also on how to build social, economic, political, institutional and professional entities that are impervious to the Mafia. Antibodies are not only effective against the Mafia, but also against other phenomena such as corruption, which is increasingly being used by the Mafia to infiltrate institutions. For example, I believe it is essential to have a law regulating the functioning of political parties and lobbies."

"(About Attilio Fontana's statements about race) The words are a Freudian slip, because what he said is what many people think, and this can only be cause for concern. I believe that behind much of the xenophobic propaganda that has been fuelled in recent years there is also a racist element."

"The legal profession is a bulwark in the defence of rights and democracy. It is a fundamental voice in the protection of guarantees, especially for those who have less of a voice to defend themselves."

"The appointment of Draghi has had an initial effect. Salvini became a pro-European within 24 hours."

"Are we sure that the appointments of Fontana and La Russa as presidents of the Chambers are stumbling blocks? I don't think so. These choices are linked to the presence of Meloni at the Vox rally, where the star was Polish Prime Minister (Mateusz Morawiecki), and where there were those nostalgic for South American dictatorships and representatives of the far right. Meloni pointed to Poland and the Czech Republic as models."

"(About the Democratic Party) We are paying the price for never having seriously addressed the cultural profile of the Renzi era. Renzi has been used as a scapegoat."

"The majority vocation, as conceived by the PD, no longer exists. A radical, post-ideological wing has formed, as well as a liberal wing."

"Now, if one speaks of the limitations of capitalism, there is always someone who will label you a communist or draw antagonistic conclusions."

"The problem at the moment, in the PD, is not the difference in ideas but the silence of ideas."

"The truth is that the third pole has worked on several occasions to break up the alliance between the PD and the M5S in order to increase its position, and the M5S currently believes that going it alone will strengthen its policy choices."

"[...] we believe that it is urgent to introduce a statutory minimum wage into our labour market regulation system. Low-paid work was already a serious scourge before the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy."

"[...] As economists explain, inflation is a particularly unfair tax, because it affects those who have more and those who have less in the same way and, therefore, hurts those who have less more, a bit like the flat tax, but this inflation, due to its composition, further accentuates this characteristic."

"[...] already today, the citizenship income functions as a form of income support for many workers. Over the past three years, between 15 and 20 per cent of citizenship income recipients were people in regular employment."

"[...] the citizenship income, like any basic income, is a factor that promotes competition and stimulates wage growth, especially in the lower income brackets."

"[...] Does collective bargaining today have the same degree of pervasiveness and homogeneity that it had in the past? Studies tell us no, because poor-quality jobs are more concentrated in the south, in small businesses and in the service sector, i.e. where trade unions have weakened, where jobs have become more precarious, where undeclared work is more prevalent, and where the failure to address these disparities is one of the causes of the regional divides that characterise our country."

"[...] Is collective bargaining still capable of pushing wages upwards, as it did for a long period in our country? And the answer, again, if we look at the last thirty years, is unfortunately “no”. Negotiation alone does not push wages up, so much so that wages in Italy have been stagnant for thirty years."

"It is good to cut the tax wedge, very good indeed, but cutting the tax wedge, in itself, does not restart a trend dynamic. [...] We have cut the tax wedge on several occasions, but this has not triggered a recovery in wages."

"[...] we believe that the decision to introduce a minimum wage is not only a matter of fairness, but also a choice to identify another model of competition for our country, a choice to build an idea of development that is not based on reducing labour costs and tax evasion. This choice is one that can revitalise our economic system."

"[...] not only do we not want humiliation to enter school, we also want it to disappear from the world of work."

"I would remind the likeable and astute Mr Orlando that you, astute Mr Orlando, were Minister of Labour for about a year and a half and did nothing on this issue (of the minimum wage)."