Sisto Francesco Paolo

Sisto Francesco Paolo is the Deputy Minister of Justice.

Son of the criminal lawyer from Bari, Eustachio Sisto, he graduated in Law with top honors in 1978 from the University of Bari, defending a thesis in criminal law under Professor Renato Dell’Andro, of whom he was a disciple in both teaching and academic research.
He became a legal prosecutor in 1981 and a lawyer admitted to the Supreme Court in 1995 (temporarily suspended due to his role as Deputy Minister of Justice). After a brief experience as an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Bari, since 1994 he has been teaching a course on occupational health and safety at the Polytechnic University of Bari.
He has also held teaching positions at the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Law of the University of Bari.

He is the author of numerous scientific publications and regularly speaks at legal conferences on issues related to criminal law. He heads a law firm in Bari with numerous professionals.

In 2004, he was appointed consultant to the Parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission. In 2005, he was appointed by the Minister of Health as Extraordinary Commissioner at the scientific hospital institute De Bellis in Castellana Grotte (Ba).

In 2008, he was elected Deputy of the Italian Republic for the Apulia constituency. In this capacity, he served as Vice President of the Board for Authorizations, member of the II Justice Commission, member of the Bicameral Anti-Mafia Inquiry Commission, and member of the Parliamentary Committee on Procedures of Accusation. In this role, he was rapporteur, among others, on measures regarding safety, business law, medical professional liability, and family law.

He was re-elected Deputy in 2013. Until July 2015, he served as President of the I Constitutional Affairs Commission of the Presidency of the Council and Internal Affairs, and later as group leader for Forza Italia within the same Commission. From October 2014 to March 2018, he was a member of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on the kidnapping and death of Aldo Moro.

He was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2018. From 26 October 2018 to 3 March 2021, he was President of the Jurisdictional Commission for the Personnel of the Chamber of Deputies; from 21 March 2018 to 4 March 2021, he was a member, serving as group leader for Forza Italia, of the I Constitutional Affairs Commission of the Presidency of the Council and Internal Affairs; from 25 October 2019 to 31 March 2021, he was a member of the Board for Authorizations.

From 25 February 2021 to 21 October 2022, he served as Undersecretary of State for Justice. On 25 September 2022, he was elected to the Senate of the Republic (Single-Member District – Apulia – Constituency 2). From 31 October 2022 to 15 December 2022, he served as Undersecretary of State for Justice, and from 15 December 2022, he was appointed Deputy Minister.

He is the National Head of the Constitutional Affairs and Justice Departments of Forza Italia and coordinator of Forza Italia Bari.