MORALITÀ PUBBLICA. – Morality is understood as the manner of behaving in accordance with the laws governing conduct, and it is accepted as a premise that the same principles serve to judge both private morality and public morality, in the sense that a dishonest action carried out by a single individual does not cease to be such if carried out by a social body, and that a fault committed in secret remains such even when it becomes widespread among the public.
I. CONTENT OF PUBLIC MORALITY
An action must be regarded as public, and therefore subject to the laws that protect public morality: 1) When it is such as to concern several people, because it is itself “by its nature” intended for the public. For example, the press and every other means of propaganda concern public morality. 2) When the circumstances in which the action takes place make it public. This is the case of a meeting held in a private home but such that, because of the number of those attending or because of its purpose or subject, it is no longer of private interest. 3) When the action is carried out in a public place, that is, in a place where anyone may go, remain, or walk without any restriction (streets, squares, countryside, etc.); 4) or in a place open to the public, that is, one which anyone may enter, even if subject to the restriction of an admission fee or a specific purpose (theatres, schools, shops, public establishments, offices, railways, tramways, etc.); 5) or in a place exposed to public view, that is, one whose interior can be seen (carriages, automobiles, courtyards, balconies, the interior of a house with its windows open).Thus, almost all the matters that concern private morality also concern public morality. Some, however, do so more profoundly.
The press, for example, has a predominant influence on the moral orientation of society, and its enormous dissemination among publications that indulge in a hedonistic and materialistic conception of life and surround great criminals with an aura of notoriety is certainly among the principal causes of moral decline. The spectacle in all its forms, ancient, such as the theatre, or recent, such as the cinema and television, is likewise a typically “public” activity, both because of its intrinsic purposes and because of the circumstances in which it takes place. Because of its extremely broad diffusion and the immediacy and effectiveness of its expressive means, the spectacle rivals the press for primacy of influence—unfortunately very often pernicious—on social customs. Fashion, too, concerns public morality, since dressing is almost always intended to arouse interest in others, and would scarcely have any reason to exist if it could not be displayed in public. The same may be said of dancing, posters, the public exhibition of objects that offend public decency, etc.
Public morality is particularly threatened by immoral acts committed in public, by prostitution, and by the shameful crime of the “white slave trade” and the exploitation of women and children.
Although the State declares itself powerless in the face of disorders that remain within a strictly private sphere, it has the right and the duty to intervene against offences that injure public morality, precisely because it is its task to safeguard the soundness of public customs and the right of honest people not to be disturbed by the brazen display of vice. Hence the legislation in defence of morality found, in greater or lesser development, among all nations.
II. LEGISLATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF PUBLIC MORALITY IN ITALY
In Italy, legislation defending public morality is found in the Constitution, the Penal Code, the Consolidated Text of the Public Security Laws, and certain special laws.The Constitution prohibits “printed publications, spectacles, and all other manifestations contrary to good morals,” referring to the law for “appropriate measures to prevent and repress violations” (art. 21). The Penal Code deals with public morality especially in Titles IX, X, and XI.
Title IX expressly concerns “offences against public morality and good morals,” and, in particular, from arts. 519 to 526, offences against sexual freedom: carnal violence, violent libidinous acts, abduction for the purpose of marriage and for the purpose of lust, abduction of a minor, and seduction by promise of marriage committed by a married person. From arts. 527 to 538, offences against modesty and sexual honour are addressed: obscene acts, including merely negligent ones, obscene publications and spectacles, the corruption of minors, incitement to prostitution and procuring, coercion into prostitution, the exploitation of prostitutes, and the trafficking of women and minors.
Particular attention should be paid to art. 529, which establishes that “for the purposes of criminal law, acts and objects which, according to common sentiment, offend modesty are considered obscene” (this entails the moral duty to react to manifestations of moral misconduct, and to do so through a public and constant reaction, so as to provide the magistrate who must apply the law with proof that common sentiment has been offended).
Title X, from arts. 545 to 555, concerns “offences against the integrity and health of the race,” in particular: abortion, procuring an abortion, incitement to abortion, procuring impotence, incitement to practices against procreation, and the transmission of syphilis and gonorrhoea.
Title XI punishes all “offences against the family.” Also relevant to public morality are offences against marriage (from arts. 556 to 563): bigamy, adultery, and concubinage; and offences against family morality, in particular incest (art. 564) and attacks through the periodical press (art. 565).
Among contraventions, art. 725 should be noted, as it punishes the display and sale of writings, drawings, or other objects contrary to public decency, as well as art. 726, which punishes anyone who, in a public place or one open or exposed to the public, commits acts contrary to public decency.
The Consolidated Text of the Public Security Laws (18 June 1931, no. 773) contains provisions relating to public spectacles and entertainments (arts. 68–85), the sale of alcoholic beverages (arts. 86–107), gambling (art. 110), the press (arts. 111–14), and prostitution or sexual licence (arts. 190–208). See also the Regulations for the implementation of the Consolidated Text (6 May 1940, no. 635).
The special laws relating to the defence of public morality are principally: a) the Law for the Protection of Maternity and Infancy (24 Dec. 1934, no. 2316) and the Regulations (15 Apr. 1926, no. 718); b) the Law on the organization of the national film industry (16 May 1947, no. 379), which in art. 14 refers to the Regulations annexed to R. D. 24 Sept. 1923, no. 3287, concerning government supervision of cinematographic films; c) the Press Law (8 Feb. 1948, no. 47), currently being updated.
Taken as a whole, this is an imposing body of legislative provisions, placing Italy at the forefront of civilized countries in the defence of morality.
(1950), pp. 47–48; anon., Il pudore e l'atto osceno, ibid., 3 (1950), pp. 48–50. Ferdinando Prosperini