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. Around 39% of the facilities visited by the NGO Antigone in 2022 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

There is no mechanical ventilation or heating in most cells. Walls have no insulation, whether they are concrete or stone — making the atmosphere stifling in summer and cold in winter. According to the NGO Antigone, at least 15 prisons in the country do not have heating systems.

In 2022, Antigone noted that 44% of the prisons visited do not have reliable in-cell access to hot water.

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 2022 do not have a shower in the cell.

In 2021, Antigone reported that in at least five prisons, the toilets are located in the same room as the living quarters of the prisoners.

The upkeep of toilets is the responsibility of occupants.

In 2022, Antigone observed that in 9% of cells in the prisons visited, toilets are not located in an area separated from the rest of the cell by a door. The privacy of prisoners is therefore not protected.

The prison administration is responsible for providing hygiene products to detained persons. This provision is not respected. Oftentimes outside associations compensate for this.

Not all cells have a refrigerator. Regional prison and civil authorities are responsible for installing them.

In November 2019, the prison administration installed 400 refrigerators in Poggioreale’s Neapolitan prison cells. This decision was made in response to the ad hoc visit carried out by NPM a few months earlier.¹

Detainees may have portable stoves in their cells for cooking. Some stoves are already in cells while others must be purchased from a commissary.

Only the colonie penali (penal farms) produce their own food.

An orchard was inaugurated inside the prison of Monza. This initiative would create jobs for prisoners. They would look after about 30 plum trees whose fruit would be eaten in the prison canteen.