Civil Protection Department

Open states of emergency

 

• Declaration of a state of emergency
• States of emergency by topic
• Stati di emergenza per territorio
• Stati di emergenza scaduti con ordinanze del Capo Dipartimento della Protezione Civile di chiusura in corso di definizione
• Stati di emergenza chiusi con ordinanze del Capo Dipartimento della Protezione Civile

Declaration of a state of emergency

A state of emergency is declared in case of natural disasters, catastrophes or other events whose intensity and extent request extraordinary powers and means. 

In Italy disasters are classified - for the purpose of civil protection - in three different types. For each event, based on extension, intensity and responsiveness of civil protection, we identify the appropriate level of civil protection that the direction and coordination should take : type a (municipal level), type b (provincial and regional ) and type c (national). 

For the "type c" events, the Council of Ministers, upon proposal of the President of the Council, deliberates a state of emergency and determines duration and spatial extent. The state of emergency may be extended or revoked.(art. 5 of law e no. 225 of 1992)

The coordination of the intervention is taken directly from the President of the Council of Ministers who may appoint Associate Commissioners and operate through the Civil Protection Department. The Department, in agreement with local authorities, makes  its resources and expertise available both in the emergency phase and in the return to normal life conditions phase. 

With the declaration of a state of emergency, the President of the Council of Ministers takes the "power to order" that allows to have orders through the steps needed to meet emergency needs. These measures may be taken in derogation from the provisions in force, provided in accordance with the legal system, provided that the rules be waived and the reasons given for exemption is justified.

Even in the event of natural disasters or major events abroad, the Civil Protection Department may define the measures, signed by the President of the Council of Ministers, to declare state of emergency and to respond to disasters.(art. 4 of law no. 152 of 2005).

 If there is an emergency exception, even before the declaration of a state of emergency, the President of the Council of Ministers may order the involvement of national structures, operating on the proposal of the Head of the Civil Protection Department and heard the President of the region. In these cases, assessed in relation to the serious risk of compromising the integrity of human life, coordinated by the Head of the Civil Protection Department. (art. 3 of decree no. 245 of 2002 then law no. 286 of 2002).

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