Comitato parlamentare per la sicurezza della Repubblica (Parliamentary Committee for the Security of the Republic) is a body of the Italian Parliament deputed to survey and oversee the activities of the
Italian intelligence agencies
Italian intelligence agencies are the intelligence agencies of Italy. Currently, the Italian intelligence agencies are the Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna (AISE), focusing on foreign intelligence, and the Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza ...
.
History
Since the end of World War II, Italian intelligence agencies have been reorganized many times in an attempt to increase their effectiveness and bring them more fully under civilian control.
The committee was established as part of a broader reform of the Italian intelligence community, which represented the latest in a long string of government attempts to effectively manage Italy's intelligence agencies.
* In 1977, with Legislative Act n.801 of 24/10/1977, this came after a former chief of
SID,
Vito Miceli, was arrested for "conspiration against the State" (See
Golpe Borghese
The ''Golpe Borghese'' (English: Borghese Coup) was a failed Italian ''coup d'état'' allegedly planned for the night of 7 or 8 December 1970. It was named after Junio Valerio Borghese, wartime commander of the Decima Flottiglia MAS and a her ...
), and the intelligence agencies were reorganized in a democratic attempt. This re-organization mainly consisted of:
** The split of
SID, the intelligence agency at that time, into two separate agencies with different roles:
SISDE
Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Democratica (Intelligence and Democratic Security Service), was the domestic intelligence agency of Italy.
With the reform of the Italian Intelligence Services approved on 1 August 2007, SISDE was replac ...
(the domestic one) and
SISMI
Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare (abbreviated SISMI, ''Military Intelligence and Security Service'') was the military intelligence agency of Italy from 1977–2007.
With the reform of the Italian Intelligence Services app ...
(the military one).
** The creation of
CESIS, with a coordination role between the two intelligence agencies and the
Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
** The creation of the Parliamentary Committee, COPACO, to oversee the activities of the two agencies.
* Since 1 August 2007, with Legislative Act n.124 of 08/03/2007, following the reform of the Italian intelligence agencies, SISDE, SISMI and CESIS were replaced respectively by
AISI,
AISE
The Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna (AISE; Italian: ''External Intelligence and Security Agency'') is the foreign intelligence service of Italy.
AISE was established in 2007 to replace the Military Intelligence and Security Service ...
and
DIS;
[Legislative Act n.124 of 08/03/2007, reported on the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic, General Series, n.187 of 08/13/2007]
the COPACO was renamed COPASIR (Comitato Parlamentare per la Sicurezza della Repubblica, Parliamentary Committee for the Security of the Republic) and granted additional oversight and control powers.
Mission
Following the reform of the Italian intelligence agencies approved on 1 August 2007, COPASIR. has the power to:
* Declassify State Secrets, but only if all members of the Committee agree with unanimity.
* Acquire acts and dossiers from judicial investigations, with the authority to overcome the professional secrecy, both of judicial and banking nature.
* Have free access to intelligence agencies' offices and documentations.
COPASIR is constituted by four Senators and four Deputies, designated proportionally by the Presidents of the two Chambers (the
Italian Chamber of Deputies, Chamber of Deputies and the
Senate of the Republic).
Current composition
List of presidents
References
External links
The Italian Intelligence and Security Services Official Website - COPACOThe Italian Intelligence and Security Services Official Website - Home Page{{in lang, en
Political committees of Italy
Parliamentary committees