Limiting Freedom during the Covid-19 Emergency in Italy: Short Notes on the New "populist Rule of Law"

Abstract

The implications of the severe lockdown regime introduced in Italy in the context of the Covid-19 emergency can be correctly understood only through a broader look at how the text of the provisions adopted by the government is transformed by media reporting and law enforcement practice. From such a perspective, it appears clearly that we are witnessing nothing more than the most recent segment of a populist approach to the use of legal tools, the history of which starts well before the pandemic.