ABSTRACT
The chapter focuses on the analysis of the current Italian regulatory framework for the implementation of maritime safety/security measures, with the purpose of supporting and improving the protection of the maritime domain against not only incidents, but also threats and intentional unlawful acts, as well as facilitating an effective co-operation among Member States in subiecta materia.
In order to ensure a high and uniform level of safeguard in this field, the legal initiatives intended to regulate maritime safety aspects have been integrated over time with rules concerning the security profile, through a combination of preventive and responsive measures. In the Italian legal system, the establishment of a regulatory framework in the field of navigation safety has been possible thanks to the driving force of uniform law and European law. As a consequence of the abovementioned process of standardization, at national level the legislation relating to maritime safety consists of a large number of regulatory instruments aimed at both transposing the rules and principles provided by the international conventions as well as adapting national rules to global and European standards.
The Italian legislative framework on safety of navigation recalls the distinction between the efficiency of the ship as such and the requirements and equipment necessary for the safety of the ship itself. Therefore, on the one hand, emphasis is placed on the concept of seaworthiness of the ship, whose requirements are mainly found in Presidential Decree No. 435/1991 and in the classification rules (Articles 166 and 167 of the Italian Code of Navigation). On the other hand, the rules relating to security of navigation are mainly provided by L. Decree 203/2007 which implemented the Directive 2005/65/EC on the improvement of security in ports, and by the ‘National Maritime Security Program (PNSM) against any illegal actions’ and Ministerial Decree 154/2009 concerning regulation on subsidiary security services.
