In the last few hours, alarmist news has begun to circulate about a possible call to arms for citizens, after the Municipality of Rome published on its website a “Draft list for those born in 2008”. In reality, there is no call to arms, nor even a return to compulsory military service: it is simply an ordinary procedure, provided for by Article 1932 of the Military Order Code, which requires all Italian Municipalities to publish, once a year, a list of male citizens who turn 17 years of age.
The purpose of this procedure is purely informative: in Italy, in fact, compulsory military service has been suspended (and not abolished) since 1 January 2005, but the obligation to register and publish the military service lists remains, which remain available for consultation for the following 15 days.
Because there is no call to arms for young Italians
There is no alarm about the return of compulsory military service: young Italians, therefore, will not be called to arms. However, the news of the publication of the “draft list for those born in 2008” caused quite a stir: in reality these lists, released on 31 January 2025 on the website of the Municipality of Rome, are part of an ordinary procedure, which requires Municipalities throughout Italy to publish a list containing the names of male citizens who turn 17.
Specifically, this procedure is regulated by article 1932 of the Military Order Code, which establishes that:
On 1 January of each year the Mayor of each municipality, as a government official pursuant to articles 14 and 54 of the legislative decree of 18 August 2000, n. 267, with a specific manifesto, makes known:
a) to young males who turn seventeen in the same year, the duty to be included in the draft list of the Municipality in which they are legally domiciled; (…)
This is an ordinary procedure, carried out every year, and which has simple information value for citizens: the drafting of these lists, therefore, has always existed and has nothing to do with the recent concerns of a possible Third World War. These lists, issued by all the Municipalities of Italy, remain public for 15 days, before being withdrawn for privacy reasons.
However, it should be remembered that, in Italy, compulsory military conscription has not been abolished, but has simply been suspended with Law 226/2004: in other words, since 1 January 2005, calls to arms for civilians have been suspended and, for the moment, enlistment in the army takes place only on a voluntary basis.
What are the criteria for a possible reinstatement of compulsory military service?
In any case, even if compulsory military service were to be reinstated, the procedure would not be so simple. The Military Order Code, in article 1929, provides that compulsory military service can be reinstated if:
- The State of War has been decided, as provided for in article 78 of the Constitution, or
- If a serious international crisis, in which Italy is involved directly or due to its membership of an international organisation, justifies an increase in the numerical strength of the Armed Forces.
If one of the two conditions were to occur, a Decree from the President of the Republic would still be necessary, following a resolution by the Council of Ministers, but only if “the volunteer staff in service is insufficient and it is not possible to fill the staff vacancies”. In other words, if Italy were to find itself implicated in a war involving NATO and the number of soldiers in the Italian Armed Forces were not sufficient, then we could opt for a reinstatement of compulsory military service.
Which citizens would eventually be called up to arms and how does it work for women
Even in the event of a declaration of a State of War, however, Italian civilians would not be the first to be enlisted, but we would proceed according to a principle of graduality: we would in fact start from all the regular armed forces, i.e. the Army, Navy, Air Force and Carabinieri. Police forces and firefighters, however, would be exempt.
Secondly, all ex-servicemen who have reached their term of service less than 5 years ago would be called up. Only as a last resort, the State could decide to recall civilians between 18 and 45 years old, following a medical examination to verify their suitability. But how does it work for women? In this case, the law does not expressly indicate women among the civilians involved in the hypothetical compulsory military service.
The entry of women into the Italian Army is in fact regulated by Law 380/1999, later included in the Military Order Code in article 623, which recognizes conditions of absolute equality between male and female personnel. However, Article 1929 of the COM, which regulates the possible reintroduction of compulsory military conscription, does not expressly indicate women among citizens between 18 and 45 who should respond to the call to arms and, consequently, does not imply the obligation to defend the homeland for the female population.
