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Italy

Capital city — Rome

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Panorama

Latest updates

Inspection judges (magistrati di sorveglianza) are authorised to receive prisoners’ complaints. They are independent from the prison service. As a last resort, prisoners can also claim their rights with the ECHR.

  • On 20 December 2023, the Florence surveillance court (Ufficio di sorveglianza) ordered the release of a prisoner from the Sollicciano prison due to inhuman treatment. The decision was based on legal precedents from the European Court of Human Rights and the Supreme Court concerning the calculation of space per person in a cell and on imprisonment conditions. It found that Article 3 of the ECHR, relating to inhuman and degrading treatment, had been violated. The judgement once again shed light on the rate of overpopulation in Italian prisons and the poor imprisonment conditions. Following this decision, other solicitors have announced appeals on behalf of prisoners living in similar situations.

    i
    20/12/2023
    / Tribunal de surveillance de Florence

Minors are subject to a specific justice system. Their cases are evaluated in closed proceedings by the juvenile tribunal (tribunali per i minorenni) and by the juvenile appellate court (corte d’appello per i minorenni).

  • The Italian Government has passed a law that makes it easier to imprison minors as young as 14, which was officially published on 7 September. Prior to this, temporary custody for 14-year-olds was limited to crimes with a minimum sentencing of nine years, essentially restricting prison to murder cases. The Caivano law lowers this threshold to six years, thereby expanding the scope of crimes for which minors can be incarcerated.

    i
    10/10/2023
    / The Guardian

The prison service offers activities to prisoners

yes

The prison service is required to organise cultural, physical, and recreational activities (Article 27 of the Prison Rules). The number and quality of the activities depends on several factors: the involvement of external participants, the goodwill of the warden, and local institutions. AS or 41-bis prisoners are not authorised to participate in communal activities with the others.

Poetry and rap workshops are now available in the juvenile prison of Catanzaro. A new library has also been opened. Theatre, cinema, poetry, and ceramics workshops are being organised in Ancona prisons.

  • Vito Cozzoli, the President and CEO of the public company “Sport and Health”, presented the “Sport for all – Prisons” project. This project aims to get prisoners exercising and doing sports activities, provide them with technical training, and give workers specific training on basic exercise in prison, in order to reintegrate them into the working world. He stated that prisoners have a right to reintegration and, as part of this right, they also have the right to sport.

    i
    10/05/2023
    / ANSA it

  • The prison service at the Rebibbia prison organises classes on applying makeup for transgender prisoners.

    i
    31/01/2023
    / Repubblica

Mothers are allowed to keep their children with them

yes, until three years of age

  • On 31 January 2023, 15 mothers and 17 young children were in detention.

    i
    04/05/2023
    / ANSA it

The prison staff is represented by (a) union(s)

yes

Prison staff can be represented by various different trade unions: the Independent Trade Union for Penitentiary Police (Sindacato autonomo polizia penitenziaria, SAPPE), the Independent Trade Union Organisation for Penitentiary Police (OSAPP), the Trade Union for Penitentiary Police (UILPA-PP) or the National Independent Trade Union for Penitentiary Police (SINAPPE).

  • The regional secretariat of the union Osapp requested a meeting with the management of Lorusso and Cutugno prison in Turin and an intervention from the regional director of the prison service. They requested the immediate reinforcement of the prison officer workforce. Several officers have complained of not having their weekly time off for over three weeks.

    i
    05/05/2023
    / ANSA it

ASLs suggest methadone-based substitution treatments for drug-addicted prisoners.

  • Antigone noted that 18.9% of prisoners are receiving treatment for substance addiction.

    i
    17/01/2023
    / Repubblica

Prisons
A significant portion of the prison population suffers from mental illness. The NGO Antigone reports, in 2021, that 7% of prisoners had a serious psychiatric diagnosis and that 26% used mood stabilisers, antipsychotics or antidepressants.
Many patients are locked up in disciplinary cells without furniture (celle liscie) or in ordinary wards.1 Twenty-five “ATSM” (articolazioni per la tutella della salute mentale) wards are dedicated to the care of people with severe mental disorders. These wards, located within prisons, have teams composed of nurses and social workers. Diagnosis of “mental infirmity” can be carried out to detect the presence of mental disorders in a detainee. Few therapies are provided; medication is the preferred treatment.
The ATSMs are under the authority of the Ministry of Justice, while the medical staff is under the Ministry of Health. The prison administration has the authority to decide whether to transfer an inmate to an ATSM.
Prisoners may be placed in continuous isolation or in the infirmary while awaiting a place in an ATSM. These measures are frequently used. Two members of the association Antigone visited, in 2021, the prison of Turin (Il Sestante). They deplore the disastrous conditions of detention in the psychiatric ward and report a strong shortage of psychiatrists. Seventeen people were placed there at the time of the visit. The ward had 20 cells that were narrow and dirty. The beds were fixed to the floor with little or no bedding. The inmates had no privacy to shower. One inmate had no light for several days. Another had no access to his lawyer. One young inmate was not supposed to be in the facility as he was awaiting transfer to a REMS residence.

Dedicated psychiatric facilities
Persons deemed irresponsible and dangerous are placed in “residences for the execution of security measures” (residenze per l’esecuzione delle misure di sicurezza, REMS). REMS are under the authority of local health agencies, under the Ministry of Health.2 There were 31 in the territory in 2020.3 The number of people placed in REMS as of January 31, 2020 was 616.
These institutions were created after the gradual abolition, until 2015, of the judicial psychiatric hospitals (ospedali psichiatrici giudiziari, OPG). According to the CPT, the Italian authorities and NGOs are concerned about the significant increase in violent behavior by detainees. Attacks on guards, self-harm and inter-prisoner violence have been common since the closure of the OPGs.4

General psychiatric hospitals
Detainees can be transferred in emergency to the “protected medicine” departments of general hospitals, dedicated to detainees, or to the “Psychiatric Unit for Diagnosis and Care” (SPDC) in Turin.

According to a January 2022 judgment by the European Court of Human Rights (Sy v. Italy, in French), continuing to hold a person with a mental disorder in the ordinary prison regime despite a transfer decision for a residence for the execution of preventive measures (REMS) constitutes inhuman or degrading treatment (Article 3 of the Convention). The transfer in this case was not carried out due to insufficient space in the REMS. The mental health of the prisoner was deemed incompatible with the ordinary prison regime.

  1. Antigone, Fifteenth Report on Prison Conditions, 2019 (in Italian). ↩

  2. Vincent Delbos et al., ”Annexes - Evaluation of the first phase of UHSAs in view of the implementation of a second phase”, 2018, p. 117 (In French). ↩

  3. Garante nazionale dei diritti delle persone detenute o private della libertà personale (MNP), *Report to Parliament - Relazione al Parlamento, Sezione 2, 2020, p. 234 (In French). ↩

  4. European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), Report to the Italian Government on the visit to Italy carried out from 12 to 22 March 2019, 2020, p. 11. ↩

  • In the view of the CPT, prisons do not provide an adequate therapeutic environment. The Committee judges that those in need of specialised psychiatric treatment should not be imprisoned in correctional facilities.

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    24/03/2023
    / Comité européen pour la prévention de la torture (CPT)

Every prison facility has a health care unit

yes

Each facility has an infirmary and a pharmacy (Article 11 of the Prison Rules).

A unit dedicated to the treatment of neurological conditions was opened, in 2022, at the Bari facility. Prisoners can now consult a team made up of a neurologist, a neuropsychologist and a cardiovascular specialist. This unit was opened as part of the “Brainspace” project, implemented by the prison service in partnership with the region’s health services.

  • The CPT has indicated that the quality of healthcare services in Italian prisons is satisfactory overall.

    i
    24/03/2023
    / Comité européen pour la prévention de la torture (CPT)

Number and percentage of prisoners who work

31.13 %

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31/12/2021
/ Ministry of Justice, Detenuti lavoranti

At 31 December 2021 : 802 jobs in the industrial production sector (lavorazioni) 154 (colonie agricole) 13 946 (servizi d’istituto) 1 108 (manutenzione ordinaria fabbricati) 920 (servizi extramurari)

  • Antigone observed that 30% of prisoners work, of which 4.4% work for external employers.

    i
    17/01/2023
    / Repubblica

Sanitary facilities are clean, adequate and accessible

-

The upkeep of toilets is the responsibility of occupants.

  • Antigone observed that 9% of cells have toilets that are not located in an area separated from the rest of the cell by a door. The privacy of prisoners is therefore not protected.

    i
    17/01/2023
    / Repubblica

Showers are located in the cells/dormitories

in some facilities

Most of the cells do not have showers. Showers are often found in passageways. The layout of the premises and its overcrowding means there is very little privacy.
More than half of the prisons visited by Antigone in 2021 do not have a shower in the cell and 40% do not have hot water.

  • Antigone observed that 56% of cells do not have showers.

    i
    17/01/2023
    / Repubblica

Prisoners have access to water

in their cell

In 2017, Antigone noted that 43% of the prisons visited do not have reliable in-cell access to hot water.

  • Antigone observed that 44% of cells do not include access to hot water.

    i
    17/01/2023
    / Repubblica

The law establishes a minimum standard for living space per prisoner

yes

Non-binding regulations from the Ministry of Health on housing have existed since 1975. It stipulates that an individual cell must measure 9m² and a 2-person cell at least 14m².
The prison administration establishes a minimum of 3m² per prisoner in a shared cell, following multiple convictions from the ECHR. One third of the facilities visited by the NGO Antigone in 2021 do not meet the minimum space standard of 3m² per person in a collective cell.
In 2016, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) reported that 16% of the prison population share cells with a surface area of less than 4m² per person. The CPT recommends a minimum of 6m² for single cells, and 4m² per person in collective cells, and shall exclude the partitioned toilet block.1

  1. European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, “Report to the Italian Government on the Visit from 8–26 April 2016”, 2017. ↩

  • Antigone observed that the provision concerning the minimum surface per prisoner, 3 m², is not respected in 39% of Italian prisons.

    i
    17/01/2023
    / Repubblica

LGBTQI+ persons are separated from other prisoners

in most cases

LGBT persons are generally placed in isolation or in blocs dedicated to targets of prison violence (rapists, child murderers, former law enforcement officers…)

  • The CPT noted that transgender women are housed in units for men, where their specific needs are not taken into account.

    i
    24/03/2023
    / Comité européen pour la prévention de la torture (CPT)

Female prisoners

4.3 % (2,392)
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31/01/2023
/ ministry of Justice, Detenuti presenti (in Italian).

  • On 31 January 2023, the number of women in correctional facilities was 2,392.

    i
    04/05/2023
    / ANSA it

Number of deaths attributed to suicide

84

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2022
/ Ministry of Justice Eventi critici negli istituti penitenziari

  • In Italian prisons, 6 suicides have occurred since the start of 2023.

    i
    22/02/2023
    / Futura News

  • In Italian prisons, 85 of the 214 deaths in 2022 were suicides.

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    22/02/2023
    / Futura News

Number of deaths in custody

171

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2022
/ Ministry of Justice, Eventi critici negli istituti penitenziari

The documentation centre Ristretti keeps an updated register online of the number of prison deaths.

  • In 2022, 214 people died in detention in Italian prisons.

    i
    22/02/2023
    / Futura News

Number of prison guards (FTE)

33,678

Italian prison guards belong to a police force named Corpo di polizia penitenziaria (Penitentiary Police).

i
2021
/ Council of Europe, SPACE I – Rapport 2021, p. 89.

  • Staff shortages are forcing senior staff to shoulder the burden of several facilities at once.

    i
    31/01/2023
    / Repubblica

There are several different prison regimes:

  • The semi-open regime: under which the majority of prisoners have been placed since 2013. The cell doors stay open for between eight and fourteen hours per day, depending on the facility. The administration implements dynamic security, allowing greater autonomy for the prisoners.
  • The alta sicurezza (AS) regime: a closed, high security regime, based on Articles 4-bis and 14-bis. It is broken down into three categories, depending on the type of criminal offence: AS1 (organised crime), AS2 (terrorism) and AS3 (drug trafficking). They are kept away from the rest of the prison population.
  • The 41-bis regime: a special prison regime for prisoners charged with acts of terrorism, organised or mafia crime. This stricter high security system was specially designed to break all ties between the prisoners and fellow inmates who may be involved in the same criminal cases. Prisoners under the 41-bis regime are placed under constant surveillance in units reserved for solitary confinement. Time outside of the cell is limited to one hour. The possession of personal belongings is subject to prior authorisation from the administration. All communications with the outside are tightly monitored.1

  1. Antigone, Fifteenth report on detention conditions, 2019 (in Italian). ↩

  • Nearly 750 prisoners around the country have been placed under the 41-bis regime.

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    01/02/2023
    / Le Point

Prisoners sentenced to life are eligible for parole after having served over 26 years and if they are deemed not to pose a threat to themselves or others (article 176 of criminal code.

Those who are deemed dangerous and mafia members who refuse to collaborate with the justice department, classified as 41-bis, are not eligible for parole. This designation is called the “ergastolo ostativo.” The NGO Antigone deplores the fact that more than 70% of lifers (more than 1,250 prisoners) have no possibility of requesting a change of sentence, unless they cooperate with the justice system.
The Constitutional Court, the highest court in the country, regards “l’ergastolo ostativo” unconstitutional. This provision contravenes Article 27 of the Italian Constitution, which states that “sentences may not consist of treatment contrary to the feelings of humanity and their purpose must be the rehabilitation of the convicted person.” The Court believes that this provision forces prisoners to make “a tragic choice”: stay in prison or be released to face potential retaliation and thus endanger their families. The Court is giving Parliament a year to change the law.