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Ladies and Gentlemen

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Council of Europe for this important exhibition on the work and legacy of the judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.

These two judges were remarkable men.

Bravely, they made it their mission to go where others had feared: to break open a Mafia system that had been the scourge of Italian society for many years.

They knew that the criminals they pursued would, in turn, come calling for them.

But despite the warnings of some judges, politicians and others, that the investigations had become too big, too difficult, too dangerous, they would not take the easy route of compromise with the Mafia – of cutting a deal.

Even as danger approached, they continued their work, remained true to their principles and, ultimately, paid with their lives.

They did this so that others would not have to.

This exhibition has visited many Italian schools before its welcome arrival here at the Palais de l’Europe.

And that is very fitting.

First, because the Council of Europe is a rule of law Organisation whose conventions and instruments have pioneered international legal action against criminal networks.

And second, because we too recognise the importance of education.

Our work on democratic citizenship is designed to inspire and equip young people to shape the inclusive democracies in which every citizen is free to flourish under the rule of law.

The same spirit expressed in the slogan that became so popular after Falcone and Borsellinos’ deaths:

“Non li avete uccisi, le loro idee camminano sulle nostre gambe.”

“You have not killed them, their ideas walk on our legs.”

is worth recalling in just a little detail what those ideas were.

Falcone and Borsellino crafted a model for international judicial co-operation and law enforcement against organised crime, expanding their investigations beyond the scope of traditional prosecutorial work in order to tackle a criminal phenomenon whose tentacles had long reached beyond Italy’s shores.

These two judges applied a determined focus on transnational Mafia activities: seizing financial assets, using specialised investigative techniques and ensuring effective witness protection schemes.

And their strategic approach remains relevant to solving cross-border crime today.

23 May 1992, Capaci, near Palermo.

19 July 1992, via D'Amelio, in Palermo itself.

More than a quarter of a century has passed since those terrible assassinations in Sicily.

But the positive legacy of Falcone and Borsellino lives on.

It lives in a new culture of legality.

In the investment made in Sicily’s people and places with the money seized from organised crime.

And in the established principle that our legal system is there to prosecute and prevent organised crime, not negotiate with those whose trade causes untold misery and injustice for people whose only wish is to live in peace and security.

Today, it is not enough simply to remember those lessons: we must guard and protect them, each and every day.

We live in a world where fundamental threats to human rights, democracy and the rule of law are plain to see.

And it would be foolish to suppose, in this context, that the mafia culture could never re-emerge.

So we need to keep the lessons taught to us by people like Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino at the forefront of our minds.

This exhibition helps us to do that – and we are profoundly grateful to the Italian Permanent Representation and to the Italian Cultural Institute in Strasbourg for bringing it here.

Thank you.