Meritorious Award

The certificate of public merit is conferred by the President of the Council of Ministers, on the proposal of the Head of the Civil Protection Department who provides for the issuance and forwarding of diplomas. The holder of the diploma has the right to bear the insignia  - i.e. medals on which the bands bearing the name and the year of the emergency relating to the award are attached - to be purchased at own expense.

The Certificate of public merit may be awarded for all events for which a state of emergency has been declared, pursuant to Legislative Decree No. 1 of 2018, “Civil Protection Code,” Article 24, paragraph 3, as amended and supplemented.

A certificate of public merit may be granted:

Collectively: to public and private administrations and bodies, to institutions and organizations that make up the components and operational structures of the National Civil Protection Service (in possession of the tax code) that have applied for it to have participated in rescue, assistance and solidarity activities during emergency events.

Individually: Italian or foreign citizens who belong to public or private administrations and bodies, institutions and organizations of the National Civil Protection Service that are reported by the bodies to which they belong (also called top reporting) for having distinguished themselves during emergency events.

To memory: if the person has lost his or her life in the course of operations relating to an emergency event or as a result of events occurring in such circumstances.

Applications for the Certificate of public merit must be submitted within three months of the date on which the emergency for which recognition is sought ends. If the state of emergency lasts longer than 24 months, the application process may be initiated while the emergency is still ongoing by submitting an application between the 24th and 27th months following the resolution declaring the state of emergency. For further information, please write to benemerenze@protezionecivile.it.

If you already hold an individual Certificate of public merit, granted pursuant to the Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers of May 5, 2014, published in the Official Gazette No. 200 of August 29, 2014, as amended and supplemented, you must wait three years from the date of the last decree granting the previous award before applying for a new one.

In order to obtain the attestation of public merit, it is necessary to follow a process that provides that it is the body to which it belongs (reporting summit) to report to the Department of Civil Protection the names of persons deemed worthy of recognition. (Regulations can be found at https://servizi.protezionecivile.it/PIB/Home/RegolamentoPrivato).

The details about who's allowed to start the recognition process are set out in the Decree of the Head of Department dated May 8, 2024.

These individuals must be accredited to the PIB procedure (https://pib.protezionecivile.it/PIB/Home) and to the Department Portal at https://servizi.protezionecivile.it. Formally accredited individuals will then obtain credentials at the end of the procedure to enter the necessary documentation for the applications of the members of the body they represent. Successful entry of applications (not documentation) must be communicated by formal note to the Department's registered email PEC (protezionecivile@pec.governo.it) and mailbox benemerenze@protezionecivile.it.

Subsequently, the applications are analyzed by a permanent Commission that submits those evaluated positively to the Head of the Civil Protection Department. The latter proposes the list to the President of the Council of Ministers, who makes it official by decree. The latter proposes the list to the President of the Council of Ministers, who makes it official by decree. It is the Civil Protection Department that issues the certificates of public merit. Those who hold the diploma have the right to bear the insignia, buying it at their own expense.

The first lists of those who, individually or collectively, have been awarded the certificate of public merit, after the entry into force of the new legislation, are contained in the following decrees of the President of the Council of Ministers:

• decree no.210 of July 18, 2016 published in the Official Gazette of September 8, 2016;
• decree no.116 of March 13, 2017 published in the Official Gazette of May 20, 2017;
• decree of November 2, 2018, published in the Official Gazette no.18 of January 22, 2019;
• decree of November 2, 2018, published in the Official Gazette no.37 of February 13, 2019
• decree of October 20, 2020, published in the Official Gazette no.10 of January 14, 2021
• decree of February 27, 2023, published in the Official Gazette no.140 of June 17 2023
• decree of November 27, 2023, published in the Official Gazette no.10 of January, 2024
• decree of July 3, 2025, published in the Official Gazette no.219 of September, 2025
• decree of October 1, 2025, published in the Official Gazette no.20 of January, 2026

The establishment of the Certificate of public merit is governed by the Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers dated May 5, 2014, published in the Official Gazette No. 200 of August 29, 2014. The implementing decree was signed on March 20, 2015, by the Head of the Civil Protection Department and published in the Official Gazette No. 131 of June 9, 2015. These decrees repeal and replace previous regulations on the matter.

On May 8, 2024, a new decree was issued by the Head of the Department, redefining the “characteristics of the insignia, award criteria, and procedural aspects” related to Certificates of public merit issued by the Civil Protection Department.

On September 18, 2024, the Head of the Department signed a new circular on Certificates of public merit (DPC/SCCPC/46518), which replaced the previous circular issued on June 25, 2020 (DPC/PSN/36662).