![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…
Overview
Prison population
Incarceration rate (per 100,000 inhabitants)
93
The NPM report states that the calculation of the imprisonment rate is not necessarily representative, because if only men are taken into account, the imprisonment rate is 179.8 for the year 2021. If only women are taken into account, the incarceration rate is 7.4 for the same period. If only inmates aged between 30 and 34 are taken into account, the rate is 232.3, again for 2021.
The authorities publish official statistics on prison population
monthly
Monthly, biannual and annual statistics on the prison population are available on the Ministry of Justice’s website.
The prison service has a computerised record keeping system
Total number of prisoners
56,127
This number does not include those in institutions for minors.
Variation in the number of prisoners
decrease
Le nombre de personnes incarcérées diminue de 9,71 % entre janvier 2020 (60 971)1 et janvier 2023 (56 127).
ministry of Justice, Detenuti presenti ↩
Number of people serving non-custodial sentences
50,721
This number includes alternatives to prison (11,163 people on house arrest and 874 people on semi-liberty), alternative sanctions (83 people), security measures (4,389 people), community service (9,077 people) and probation (25,126 people).
Variation in the number of people serving non-custodial sentences
increase
The number of people serving a non-custodial sentence increases by 20,25 % between June 2019 (42 178)1 and June 2022 (50 721).
ministry of Justice, Adulti in area penale esterna ↩
Variation in the incarceration rate
increase
The incarceration rate increases by 2,12 % between 2020 (89,5)1 and 2021 (91,4).
National guarantor of the rights of persons detained or deprived of their liberty, Rapport au Parlement 2022 – Cartes et données, p. 34. (in italian). ↩
Number of admissions
36,539
In 2021, there will be a negative inflow-outflow balance (-10,059), the first time this has occurred since 2014. The number of entries will increase by 3.6% between 2020 (35,280) and 2021.
Number of releases
46,598
The number of releases increases by 47,7 % between 2020 (31 555) and 2021.
Average length of imprisonment (in months)
19
Variation in the average length of imprisonment
increase
The average length of imprisonment increases by 21,2 % between 2019 (15,7)1 and 2020 (19).
Council of Europe, SPACE I, Report 2020, p. 124. ↩
Prison density
109 %
Variation in the prison density
decrease
The prison density rate decreases by 9,17 % between January 2020 (120)1 and January 2023 (109).
ministry of Justice, Detenuti italiani e stranieri presenti e capienze per istituto (in italian). ↩
Overcrowding is an issue for specific types of prison facilities
yes
Some correctional facilities (Como, Taranto, Larino) have an occupancy rate of almost 200%.
A statistical report from the Ministry of Justice in 2022 highlighted overpopulation in prisons in Sardinia.
The country has been condemned by an international court for its prison overcrowding
yes
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has condemned Italy on several occasions over the past few years for the overcrowding of its prisons:
- Sulejmanovic vs. Italy (2009) case: the ECHR concluded that there had been a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of torture) of the European Convention on Human Rights, concerning the lack of space in cells. The government granted special powers to local prison services and ordered the construction of 18 new prisons.
- Torreggiani et al. vs. Italy (2013) case: the ECHR condemned the country for prison overcrowding and inhuman living conditions. The Court made a pilot judgment urging Italy to implement reforms to reduce prison overcrowding.
A supervisory body has issued a decision on prison overcrowding
In 2019, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) visited Italian prisons and highlighted the overcrowding in most of them.1
In 2023, the National Guarantor of the Rights of Persons Detained or Deprived of Liberty visited the Lombardy region. He inspected eight correctional facilities, including Milan’s juvenile detention facility. He observed that these facilities are overpopulated, lack various resources (management, allocation of personnel for various positions) and do not communicate enough with local health facilities. The juvenile facility is still awaiting renovation work.
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.
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”, p. 8. ↩
Organisation
Name of authority in charge of the prison service
Ministry of Justice
Budget of the prison service
3247050
dollars - EUR 3,000,000.00
Percentage of the ministerial budget allocated to the prison service
34.8 %
The prison service outsources the management of the facilities to private companies, either partially or fully
yes, partially
The prison service entrusts companies with the day-to-day management of certain facilities (food, commissary, work) through public-private partnerships. This type of partnership is established when constructing new facilities (Vito al Tagliamento, Bolzano) or when renovating old ones (San Vittore, Poggioreale).
The Department of Penitentiary Administration has 11 regional authorities (provveditorati regionali), responsible for applying the guidelines established in Rome on a regional level.
The regularly revisited law of 26 July 1975 n° 354 details the procedure for the prison service. This law acts as prison rules.
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 In February 2023, nearly 750 prisoners around the country are placed under this regime.
Antigone, Fifteenth report on detention conditions, 2019 (in Italian). ↩
Prison facilities
The Italian prison system has several different categories of facilities:
- the case circondariali (CC), detention centres for defendants on remand and convicts with sentences of less than 5 years
- the case di reclusione (CR), for prisoners serving long-term sentences
- the Istituti penali per i minorenni (IPM), for minors.
There are special facilities and units for female prisoners. Some called Istituto a custodia attenuata per detenute madri (ICAM) (open prisons for incarcerated mothers) allow women to keep their children with them.
Over the course of their imprisonment, prisoners’ sentences may be turned into a placement in a casa de lavoro (work house) or in a colonie penale (penal farm).
The Residenze per l’esecuzione delle misure di sicurezza (REMS) (Residences for the execution of security measures) are reserved for those deemed not responsible for their own actions or serving a security measure at the end of their sentence. These facilities have replaced the judicial hospitals (Ospedali psichiatrici giudiziari, OPG) since 2016.
Total number of prison facilities
206
Total official capacity of the prison facilities
51,403
Variation in the capacity of the prison facilities
increase
The capacity of the prison facilities increases by 1,4 % between January 2020 (50 692)1 and January 2023 (51 403).
ministry of Justice, Detenuti italiani e stranieri presenti e capienze per istituto (in italian). ↩
Most facilities had between 100 and 500 spaces. The largest prison in the country, Naples Poggioreale, has 2,200 inmates in 2021. The smallest prisons, Lanusei in Sardinia and Grosseto in Tuscany, each hold 28 prisoners on the same date.
Prison facilities are accessible by public transport
-
Prison facilities were gradually relocated from historic urban centres to suburban or even rural areas over the course of the second half of the 20th century.
Staff
Number of prison guards (FTE)
33,678
Italian prison guards belong to a police force named Corpo di polizia penitenziaria (Penitentiary Police).
Staff shortages are forcing senior staff to shoulder the burden of several facilities at once.
Guard to prisoner ratio
1 : 6
This ratio was calculated from the number of officers within the penitentiary police. Many of whom hold positions outside of detention facilities.
Number of socio-educational workers (FTE)
830
Percentage of socio-educational workers in relation to the entire prison staff
2.1 %
The prison staff is represented by (a) union(s)
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).
All those applying for a role within the penitentiary police must:
- be in full possession of their civil rights
- be under 28 years old
- have a secondary school qualification (grade 2)
- pass a competitive theory exam
- pass psychological and physical tests
The initial nine-month training course is provided by ten or so schools across Italy. A Master’s qualification in prison and constitutional law is also provided in collaboration with the University of Rome III.
Further training is delegated to regional departments and made available to penitentiary police officers throughout their career.
The basic average income of a prison officer, including allowances and bonuses, is approximately EUR 1,800 per month.