![pi_fp_italiefr.png](/assets/f1440x800-q70/8e609f28/pi_fp_italiefr.png)
Italy
Capital city — Rome
Country population
i2021Incarceration rate (per 100,000 inhabit…
93The NPM report st…
i2022Type of government
Human Development Index
0.895(30/191)
iHomicide rate (per 100,000 inhabitants)
Name of authority in charge of the pris…
Total number of prisoners
56,127This number does…
i31/05/2023/ ministry of Justice, Detenuti presentiAverage length of imprisonment (in mont…
i2020/ Council of Europe, SPACE I – 2021 Report, p. 124.Prison density
i30/01/2023/ ministry of Justice, Detenuti italiani e stranieri presenti e capienze per istituto (in italian).Total number of prison facilities
i31/01/2020An NPM has been established
Female prisoners
i31/01/2023/ ministry of Justice, Detenuti presenti (in Italian).Incarcerated minors
i15/01/2023/ Ministry of Justice Minorenni e giovani adulti in carico ai Servizi minorili (in Italian).Percentage of untried prisoners
27.5 %This number does…
i31/01/2023/ ministry of Justice, Detenuti presenti (in Italian).Death penalty is abolished
yes, since 1994The death penalty…
Health
Organisation of health care
Ministry in charge
Ministry of Health and Local Health Authorities
Since 2008, access to health care has been entrusted to the National Health Service (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, SSN) and local health authorities (Aziende Sanitarie Locale, ASL).
Every prison facility has a health care unit
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.
In 2022, the CPT indicated that the quality of healthcare services in Italian prisons was satisfactory overall.
Number of medical staff (FTE)
3,162
The most recent national data is from 2008. Health in prisons thereafter became the responsibility of local services, which do not publish statistics for the entire nation.
Nurses, a general practitioner, and a psychiatrist are required in each facility. Specialists (such as cardiologists, dentists, and ophthalmologists) can have regular office hours or can come to the prison for consultations. A prisoner can call upon an outside doctor at his or her own cost. 1
Material differences exist from one region to another. In 2019, the CPT noted the alarming state of numerous infirmary sites.2
CPT, Report to the Italian government on the Visit from 12–22 March 2019, p. 40 (in English). ↩
ibid. ↩
Prisoners for whom the pathology requires can be transferred to a regional civilian hospital.
Certain hospitals have a service adapted to receiving prisoners.
Access to health care
Health care is free
A medical examination is performed upon admission
Physical and mental examinations, including taking blood, are performed for each admission.
A medical file is opened upon admission
Prisoners can access health care units after
a written request or an oral request
A prisoner may request a consultation by means of a form. He or she can request an emergency consultation by telling the guard on duty.
Medical examinations are carried out on a confidential basis
no
The NPM and the CPT note the presence of guards during many medical consultations.1
Garante nazionale dei diritti delle persone detenute o private della libertà personale, Report to Parliament - Relazione al Parlamento, 2019, p. 72; CPT, Report to the Italian government on the Visit from 12–22 March 2019, p. 47 (in Italian). ↩
Article 11 of the Prison Rules provides for a continuity of care, despite transfers and changes in status. The respect for this continuity is, however, hindered by the limited number of health professionals.
Each prison has a pharmacy. Health care personnel are responsible for distributing medication. Access to medications not stocked within the pharmacy is limited.
As of 2019, prisoners taking psychotropic medications (antidepressants, sleep aids, anti-anxiety medicine) represent 30% of the incarcerated population.
Physical health care
Around 70% of prisoners suffer from one or more illnesses.
Drug addictions, psychiatric disorders, dental problems, respiratory or cardiovascular problems, and hepatitis C are the most common.
Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS both affect a relatively large part of the prison population.
Health professionals regularly point to the pathogenic nature of the prison environment.
Sick prisoners generally receive proper treatment. Disparities exist among the various regions, and transfers can cause breakdowns in care.
Antigone notes the lack of psychological support in the handling of certain treatments.
There are regular prevention campaigns waged against HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, and other communicable diseases.
Measures for reducing risk (condoms, syringes, etc.) are not implemented.
Mental health care
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.
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.
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.
Antigone, Fifteenth Report on Prison Conditions, 2019 (in Italian). ↩
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). ↩
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). ↩
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. ↩
Several prison unions have denounced the over-representation of people suffering from psychological disorders and the lack of personnel training.
Antigone notes the lack of specialised medical personnel.
Local health agencies (ASL) offer methadone-based substitution treatments to drug-addicted prisoners. Professionals from the drug addiction service (SerT) regularly visit prisoners with addictions and offer pharmacological and psychosocial treatment as well as group therapy. There were 1,647 prisoners receiving opioid substitution treatment in 2014.1 The CPT recognises this method as an example in the treatment of addictions.2
Prisoners with addictions can be placed in REMS if they also have a mental disorder. The SerTs are also responsible for follow-up in these facilities.
In 2022, Antigone noted that 18.9% of prisoners were receiving treatment for substance addiction.
World Health Organization, Health in prisons: fact sheets for 38 European countries, 2019. ↩
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), “Report to the Italian Governement on the visit carried out from 12 to 22 March 2019”, 2020, p. 44. ↩