Italian lawyers could win ‘wild west-style bounties’ if immigration clients go home

Italian lawyers will be paid bonuses if they successfully convince their immigrant clients to return home under a government plan that has been compared to a “wild west-style bounty”.

The incentive is in the latest security bill from Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government and goes to the lower house of parliament for final approval this week. It was passed by the upper house after fiery debate.

Meloni’s ruling coalition has earmarked €246,000 (£214,000) for the incentive this year, with funding almost doubling for 2027 and 2028. Lawyers who assist their foreign clients in accepting voluntary repatriation will receive a bonus, but only once the individual has returned to their country of origin. The bill does not stipulate the bonus amount but rough calculations by the Italian press equate it to about €615.

The security bill also has a measure removing access to state-funded legal aid when challenging deportation orders.

The bonus plan has provoked a fresh clash with Italian lawyers and magistrates a month after Meloni’s government was defeated in a referendum on a judicial overhaul.

Italy’s national bar council said in a statement it was never informed about the measure and has urged parliament to scrap it. UCPI, which represents criminal lawyers, said the measure was “incompatible” with Italy’s constitution, adding that lawyers must not be paid to obtain an outcome desired by the state and must instead assist their clients “in full freedom and independence”.

ANM, the magistrates’ union, said it was “dismayed” by the measure, warning that offering financial incentives linked to the outcome of migrant repatriation procedures risked undermining effective judicial protection.

There has also been an angry response from the opposition. Riccardo Magi, leader of the leftwing Più Europa (More Europe) party, said the bonus was “basically a wild west-style bounty” in which “rights are trampled on and those who should protect the rights of foreign citizens are financially incentivised not to do so”. He described the security decree as “one step away from Trump’s ICE”, referring to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Debora Serracchiani of the Democratic party said the bonus, alongside the loss of legal aid for lawyers assisting clients in appealing against deportation orders, was a “disgraceful” regulation that “undermines the very dignity of professionals”. She added: “This is yet another decree that only serves to repress and strip away rights.”