COPASIR

Parliamentary Committee for the Security of the Republic (Comitato Parlamentare per la Sicurezza della Repubblica, COPASIR) is a body of the Italian Parliament deputed to survey and oversee the activities of the Italian intelligence agencies.

History

Since the end of World War II, Italian intelligence agencies have been reorganized many times in an attempt to increase their effectiveness and bring them more fully under civilian control. The committee was established as part of a broader reform of the Italian intelligence community, which represented the latest in a long string of government attempts to effectively manage Italy's intelligence agencies.

• In 1977, with Legislative Act n.801 of 24/10/1977, this came after a former chief of SID, Vito Miceli, was arrested for "conspiration against the state" (Golpe Borghese), and the intelligence agencies were reorganized in a democratic attempt. This re-organization mainly consisted of:
  • The split of SID, the intelligence agency at that time, into two separate agencies with different roles: SISDE (the domestic one) and SISMI (the military one).
  • The creation of CESIS, with a coordination role between the two intelligence agencies and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
  • The creation of the Parliamentary Committee, COPACO, to oversee the activities of the two agencies.
• Since 1 August 2007, with Legislative Act n.124 of 08/03/2007, following the reform of the Italian intelligence agencies, SISDE, SISMI and CESIS were replaced respectively by AISI, AISE and DIS; the COPACO was renamed COPASIR (Comitato Parlamentare per la Sicurezza della Repubblica, Parliamentary Committee for the Security of the Republic) and granted additional oversight and control powers.

Mission

Following the reform of the Italian intelligence agencies approved on 1 August 2007, COPASIR. has the power to:

• Declassify State Secrets, but only if all members of the Committee agree with unanimity.
• Acquire acts and dossiers from judicial investigations, with the authority to overcome the professional secrecy, both of judicial and banking nature.
• Have free access to intelligence agencies' offices and documentations.

COPASIR is constituted by four Senators and four Deputies, designated proportionally by the presidents of the two Chambers (the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic).

Current composition

Name		Group	Role	House	Took office
style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Lorenzo Guerini	Democratic Party	President	Chamber of Deputies	21 November 2022
style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Giovanni Donzelli	Brothers of Italy	Vice President		21 November 2022
style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Ettore Rosato	Action – PER	Secretary		21 November 2022
style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Marco Pellegrini	Five Star Movement	Member		21 November 2022
style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Angelo Rossi	Brothers of Italy	Member		21 November 2022
style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Ester Mieli	Brothers of Italy	Member	Senate of the Republic	3 July 2024
style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Claudio Borghi	League	Member		17 November 2022
style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Enrico Borghi	Italia Viva	Member		17 November 2022
style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Licia Ronzulli	Forza Italia	Member		17 November 2022
style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Roberto Scarpinato	Five Star Movement	Member		17 November 2022

List of presidents

Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			Party		Legislature
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
File:Claudio Scajola crop.jpg	Claudio Scajola (1948– )	1 August 2007	29 April 2008	REDIRECT Template:Age in years and days nts	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Forza Italia	XV (2006)
File:Rutelli per wikipedia.jpg	Francesco Rutelli (1954– )	22 May 2008	12 November 2009	REDIRECT Template:Age in years and days nts	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Democratic Party	XVI (2008)
File:Massimo D'Alema 2006.jpg	Massimo D'Alema (1949– )	26 January 2010	15 March 2013	REDIRECT Template:Age in years and days nts	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Democratic Party
File:Giacomo Stucchi datisenato 2013.jpg	Giacomo Stucchi (1969– )	6 June 2013	22 March 2018	REDIRECT Template:Age in years and days nts	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Northern League / League	XVII (2013)
File:Lorenzo Guerini official photo (cropped).jpg	Lorenzo Guerini (1966– )	18 July 2018	4 September 2019	REDIRECT Template:Age in years and days nts	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Democratic Party	XVIII (2018)
File:Raffaele Volpi daticamera 2018.jpg	Raffaele Volpi (1960– )	9 October 2019	20 May 2021	REDIRECT Template:Age in years and days nts	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	League
File:Adolfo Urso 2022 crop.jpg	Adolfo Urso (1957– )	9 June 2021	12 October 2022	REDIRECT Template:Age in years and days nts	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Brothers of Italy
File:Lorenzo Guerini official photo (cropped).jpg	Lorenzo Guerini (1966– )	6 December 2022	Incumbent	REDIRECT Template:Age in years and days nts	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Democratic Party	XIX (2022)

External links

• The Italian Intelligence and Security Services Official Website - COPACO Template:In lang
• The Italian Intelligence and Security Services Official Website - Home Page Template:In lang