The ‘years of lead’ commonly refer in Italy to the decade of the 1970s, characterized by widespread conflictuality, the use of violence for political aims and harsh state repression of political activism. Political violence has been primarily handled with both normal and exceptional means of criminal justice, yet debates on amnesty and reconciliation have been recurrent over the years. This article traces the history of the debates on amnesty and pardon for politically motivated offences to show how they have been shaped by changing national and international contexts. On the one hand, the ‘failed amnesty’ reflects the long-lasting repressive approach adopted by the Italian state to address the question of the political violence in the 1970s and the reluctance to acknowledge its collective and political character. On the other hand, this article argues that, beyond the apparent continuity of a punitive approach, the gradual disappearance of amnesty from political debates in the 1990s–2000s is symptomatic of a more paradigmatic shift resulting from the combination of different factors and trends, such as the transformation of the Italian political landscape in the early 1990s, the emergence and affirmation of a new punitive discourse, as well as the increasing delegitimation of amnesties in transitional settings. Thus, through a specific case-study, this article draws links between criminal justice and penal trends, political transformations and developments in transitional justice, and consequently intends to contribute to the discussion of the concept of punitiveness and the effects of the expanding international criminal law on the treatment of politically motivated offences.

在意大利，“领导年”通常指的是1970年代的十年，其特征是广泛的冲突，使用暴力实现政治目的以及国家对政治活动主义的严厉镇压。政治暴力主要通过正常和特殊的刑事司法手段来处理，但多年来，关于大赦与和解的辩论却屡见不鲜。本文追溯了关于出于政治动机的大赦和赦免的辩论的历史，以显示它们是如何因变化的国内和国际环境而形成的。一方面，“大赦失败”反映了意大利政府为解决1970年代的政治暴力问题以及不愿承认其集体和政治性质而采取的长期压制手段。另一方面，本文认为，除了惩罚性方法的明显延续外，大赦在1990年代至2000年代的政治辩论中逐渐消失，这是由不同因素和趋势的结合所导致的更范式的转变的征兆，例如1990年代初期的意大利政治形势，新的惩罚性话语的出现和确认，以及过渡环境中大赦的合法化程度不断提高。因此，本文通过具体的案例研究，得出了刑事司法与刑事趋势，过渡时期司法的政治变革和发展之间的联系，