By ratifying the Genocide Convention, Italy undertook an obligation to enact legislation ‘to provide effective penalties for persons guilty of genocide’. Accordingly, in 1967 the legislator incorporated the offences enumerated in the convention into the domestic legal system. As it was under no such obligation with regard to crimes against humanity, Italy has not criminalized them. Two major legal issues arise from this decision. First, Italy may be unable to execute cooperation requests submitted by the International Criminal Court, and thus breach an international obligation. Furthermore, domestic authorities can only charge suspects with ‘corresponding’ ordinary offences, which are subject to statutes of limitations. Both issues are addressed in the Draft Convention on Crimes Against Humanity adopted by the International Law Commission, whose provisions require States Parties to enact legislation to ensure that under domestic criminal law such crimes constitute offences and are not subject to a statute of limitations.

通过批准《灭绝种族罪公约》，意大利承担了制定立法“为犯有灭绝种族罪的人提供有效惩罚”的义务。因此，立法者于 1967 年将公约中列举的罪行纳入国内法律体系。由于在危害人类罪方面没有这种义务，意大利没有将其定为刑事犯罪。这一决定产生了两个主要的法律问题。首先，意大利可能无法执行国际刑事法院提交的合作请求，从而违反了国际义务。此外，国内当局只能以“相应的”普通罪行起诉嫌疑人，这些罪行受诉讼时效限制。国际法委员会通过的《危害人类罪公约草案》处理了这两个问题，