The law 354/1975

Treatment and re-education

1. The prisoners must be treated humanely and respect for personal dignity must be ensured.

2. Treatment is marked by absolute impartiality without any discrimination as to nationality, race and economic or social conditions, political opinions and religious beliefs.

3. Order and discipline must be preserved in the institutions. No restrictions may be adopted that cannot be justified by the envisaged means or, with regard to remand prisoners, that are not essential for judicial purposes.

4. Prisoners and internees are to be called or referred to by their name.

5. Treatment of the remand prisoners must be strictly based on the principle that they are considered innocent until they have been found guilty.

6. Prisoners and internees must undergo re-education which will be aimed at their reinsertion into society, also through their contacts with the external environment. This treatment is performed in accordance with a criterion of 2 individualisation with regard to the subjects’ specific conditions.

Art. 2

Costs of carrying out the sentence and supplying the necessary security measures

1. The costs of carrying out the sentence and supplying the necessary security measures are borne by the State.

2. Refund of costs incurred for the maintenance of prisoners is performed in accordance with the terms of articles 148, 188, 189 and 191 of the Penal Code and article 274 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

3. Refund of costs incurred for the maintenance of internees is performed by withdrawal of a portion of the remuneration in accordance with the last paragraph of article 213 of the Penal Code, or by the measures relevant to the refund of hospital costs, set out in the last part of article 213 of the Penal Code.

4. The maintenance costs are those relating to food and equipment.

5. The refund of maintenance expenses involves a proportion of no more than two thirds of the actual cost. The Minister of Justice will determine the average proportion for maintaining prisoners in all the Republic’s penal institutions at the beginning of every fiscal year, after having consulted the Treasury Minister.

Exercise of the rights of prisoners and internees

1. Prisoners and internees will personally exercise the rights deriving from this law, even if they prove to be legally deprived of civil rights.

Clothing and equipment

1. Each person is provided with underwear, clothing and sufficient equipment, in a good state of repair, clean and such as to ensure that the normal necessities of life are satisfied.

2. The uniform is made of a plain-coloured fabric and is cut in a decent style. A work outfit is permitted when the activity performed renders such clothing necessary.

3. Remand prisoners and prisoners serving a sentence of less than one year may wear their own clothes, provided that these are clean and suitable. In any case, clothing provided for remand prisoners must be different from that worn by prisoners and internees.

4. Prisoners and internees may be allowed to use their own equipment and objects that have a special moral or sentimental value for them.

Personal hygiene

1. The adequate and sufficient use of handbasins and baths or showers is ensured for prisoners and internees, as well as other items necessary for personal care and cleanliness,

2. Services are organised in every prison for periodic hair-cuts and shaves. The use of a personal electric razor may be permitted.

3. A hair-cut and shave may be compulsory only for particular reasons of hygiene and health.

Diet

1. Prisoners and internees are assured of a healthy and adequate diet, appropriate for their age and gender, their state of health, work, the season and the climate.

2. Food is provided as a rule on the premises destined for that purpose.

3. Drinking water must always be available for prisoners and internees.

4. The quality and quantity of the daily food supply are determined by consulting special tables approved by ministerial decree.

5. As a rule, the provisions are managed directly by the prison administration.

6. Representatives of the prisoners or internees, appointed every month by drawing lots, check the correct application of the tables and the preparation of the food.

7. Prisoners and internees are allowed to buy food and items for their comfort at their own expense, within the limits set by the regulations, at the stores directly managed by the prison administration or by firms selling at prices controlled by the municipal authority. Prices may not exceed those commonly quoted in the place where the prison is situated. The representative body mentioned in the previous paragraph, completed by a delegation appointed by the Governor and chosen from among the civilian staff of the institution, checks the quality and prices of the goods sold therein.

Out-of-doors exercise

1. Those who do not work out-of-doors are allowed to stay outside in the open air for at least two hours a day. This period may be reduced to not less than one hour a day and only for exceptional reasons.

2. Those allowed to stay out-of-doors must be in groups, except for the cases indicated in article 33 and in numbers 4) and 5) of article 39, and will take part in physical exercise if possible.

Health

1. Every penal institution is provided with a medical service and a pharmaceutical service that answer to the preventive treatment and medical attention necessary for the prisoners’ and internees’ health. At least one psychiatric specialist is also available in each prison.

2. Where necessary treatments or diagnostic assessments cannot be provided by the prisons’ health services, the prisoners and internees concerned will be transferred to civilian hospitals or other centres for treatment outside the institution, by permission of the supervisory magistrate. With regard to remand prisoners, such transfers are ordered by the supervisory magistrate before the judgement of first instance, during the preliminary investigation; by the Public Prosecutor during the summary proceedings and, in the case of summary proceedings, until the accused is admitted to Court; by the presiding judge during the preliminary hearing and during the trial; by the lower Court judge for proceedings within his province; by the presiding judge of the Court of Appeal during preliminary proceedings at Assizes, until the Court itself is convened, and by the presiding judge of the same following convocation.

3. The competent Court, in accordance with the previous paragraph, may decide that the prisoners and internees transferred to a civilian hospital or other external centres for treatment by its own authority or authorised by the prison Governor, need not be guarded while hospitalised if there is no danger of their escaping, unless a guard is necessary for their personal safety.

4. A prisoner or internee who is not being guarded and leaves the hospital or other centre of treatment without a justified motive is liable to punishment according to the first paragraph of article 385 of the Penal Code.

5. On entering the prison, the persons in question undergo a general medical examination in order to ascertain any physical or psychiatric problems. Treatment is given while the said person remains in the prison with regular and frequent check-ups, irrespective of whether the persons concerned request them.

6. The doctor must examine patients and those who request an examination every day; he must immediately notify any illnesses that call for a specialised examination and specialist treatment; he must also periodically check the prisoners’ fitness to perform the work allotted to them.

7. Prisoners and internees suspected or diagnosed as suffering from contagious disease are isolated immediately. In the case of suspected psychological illness, the appropriate measures are adopted without delay, in observance of the regulations concerning psychiatric treatment and mental health.

8. Special services for the treatment of pregnant women and women in childbirth are available in every women’s prison.

9. Mothers are allowed to keep their children with them until the age of three. Suitable nurseries are organised for the care of children.

10. The prison administration may avail itself of collaboration with the local public health services, for in- and out-patients, with regard to the organisation and functioning of the health service, in agreement with the Region and in line with the approach of the Ministry of Health.

11. Prisoners and internees may request examination by a doctor they trust, at their own expense. As regards remand prisoners authorisation is necessary from the magistrate who is undertaking the inquiry, until the judgement of first instance has been delivered.

12. The provincial medical officer visits the preventive institutions and prisons at least twice a year, in order to check their hygienic - sanitary state, the adequacy of the preventive measures with regard to infectious diseases organised by the prison heath service and the hygienic and sanitary conditions of those persons confined in the prison.

13. The provincial medical officer reports to the Ministries of Health and Justice on his examinations and on any measures to be adopted, also reporting to the competent regional departments and the supervisory magistrate.

Art. 12

Equipment for work, education and recreation

1. Equipment for performing such activities as work, scholastic and professional education, recreation, culture and any other kind of communal activity is provided in the penal institutions, according to the requirements of the treatment.

2. The institutions must also be provided with a library containing books and periodicals, chosen by the committee described in the second paragraph of article 16.

3. Representatives of the prisoners and internees will participate in the management of the library service.

Individualisation of the treatment

1. The prison treatment must answer to the particular needs of each individual’s personality.

2. A scientific examination of the personality is arranged for all the prisoners and internees, in order to assess their physio-psychological inadequacy and other causes of their social maladjustment. Such an examination is performed at the beginning of the sentence and continues throughout the same.

3. Information is gathered for each prisoner and internee based on the results of the aforesaid examination with regard to the re-education treatment to be effected and the appropriate programme is drawn up; this may be integrated or modified according to needs arising while the said programme is being followed.

4. The general trends and details of the treatment are added to the personal file, together with the judiciary, biographical and health data; the course of the treatment undertaken and its results are also noted subsequently.

5. Prisoners and internees must be encouraged to collaborate in the operations of examination and treatment.

Special Surveillance Regime

1. Prisoners, internees and remand prisoners may be subjected to a special surveillance regime for a period of no more than six months, renewable even several times but for no longer than three months each time if:

1. they compromise the safety or disturb the order of the institutions by their behaviour;

2. they hinder the activities of the other prisoners or internees by violence or threat;

3. they exploit the state of subjection felt towards them by other prisoners in the prison environment.

1. The regime as of paragraph 1 above is organised according to a well-founded regulation drawn up by the prison administration together with two of the experts envisaged by the fourth paragraph of art. 80.

2. The special surveillance regime is prescribed for prisoners after having heard the opinion of the judicial authority concerned with the case.

3. In the case of necessity and urgency the administration may provisionally arrange for special surveillance before hearing the prescribed opinions, which must, however, be heard within ten days of the date of application of the said measure. When this period has expired, the administration – having received the prescribed opinions – will take a definitive decision within ten days, after which, if no decision has been taken, the temporary measure will cease to be valid.

4. Prisoners, internees and remand prisoners may be subjected to a special surveillance regime starting from the time they enter the institution, on the basis of their previous behaviour in an institution or on other concrete examples of their behaviour when they were at liberty, irrespective of the type of charge. The judicial authority notifies the prison administration of any information of which they may be aware; the latter will then decide upon the measures to be taken within its competence.

5. The measures to be taken to provide for the regime described in this article are immediately communicated to the supervisory magistrate so that he may exercise his power of surveillance.

Complaints

1. A complaint against the decision to apply a status of special surveillance or to defer it may be submitted by the prisoner concerned, applying to the supervisory court within ten days of the date when the definitive measure has been communicated. Such a protest will not hinder the execution of the penalty.

2. The supervisory court provides for an order in chambers within ten days of receiving the complaint.

3. The public prosecutor and the defence counsel participate in the procedure. The prisoner concerned and the prison administration may present petitions.

[omissis]

Prison Regulations

1. Penitentiary treatment in each prison is organised according to the directives that the prison administration gives with regard to the requirements of the groups of prisoners and internees detained therein.

2. The methods of treatment to be followed in each institution are disciplined by the internal regulations which are laid down and modified by a committee comprising the supervisory magistrate, who acts as Chair, the Governor, the doctor, the chaplain, the person in charge of prison employment, an instructor and a social worker. The Committee may avail themselves of the collaboration of the experts mentioned in the fourth paragraph of article 80.

3. The internal regulations also discipline the controls which everyone entering or leaving the prison, for whatever reason, must undergo.

4. The internal regulations and modifications thereof are approved by the Minister of Justice.

Visiting, correspondence and information

1. Prisoners and internees are allowed to have visitors and exchange correspondence with their relatives and other persons, also in order to perform legal proceedings.

2. Visitors are received in special rooms, where the prison guards can see but not hear what is taking place.

3. Visits from members of the family are particularly encouraged.

4. The prison administration will provide the stationery and other objects necessary for correspondence for those prisoners and internees who are not provided with the same.

5. Telephone calls to members of the family and, in particular cases, to third parties may be authorised in accordance with the methods and precautions envisaged by the regulations.

6. Prisoners and internees are allowed to have the newspapers, periodicals and books that are freely on sale outside, and to avail themselves of other means of information.

7. The correspondence of individual prisoners or internees may be subjected to visual examination by the Governor or by a member of the prison staff appointed by the Governor, in accordance with a measure issued by the supervisory magistrate.

8. With the exception of the provision set out in article 18 b, as regards prisoners’ permission to receive visitors, visual examination of correspondence and permission to communicate by telephone fall within the sphere of competence of the judicial authority, in accordance with what is laid down in the second paragraph of article 11. After the initial sentence has been delivered, permission for visits falls within the sphere of competence of the prison Governor.

9. As regards subjecting correspondence to visual examination, if the aforesaid prison authorities do not wish to undertake this task directly, they may delegate the same to the Governor or to a member of the prison administration staff appointed by the Governor himself. Those same authorities may also place restrictions on correspondence and receipt of printed material.

Education

1. Cultural and vocational education is provided for in prisons through the organisation of scholastic and vocational courses, in accordance with the trends currently in force and employing methods suited to the prisoners’ condition.

2. Special attention is devoted to vocational training and cultural education with regard to prisoners younger than twenty-five.

3. Higher secondary schools may be provided in the prisons in accordance with the procedures envisaged by the educational system.

4. The completion of university degrees and equivalent courses is facilitated and prisoners are encouraged to follow educational courses by correspondence, radio and television.

5. Access to publications contained in the library is encouraged, with full freedom of choice as regards reading matter.

Employment

1. Prisoners and internees are to be encouraged in all possible ways to perform work and participate in vocational training courses while they are in prison. Thus, work organised and managed directly by public or private companies may be arranged and vocational courses may be established, organised and performed by public companies or by private ones by arrangement with the Region.

2. Work in the prison is not considered as corporal punishment and is paid.

3. Work is compulsory for prisoners and for those prisoners subjected to security measures in penal agricultural settlements and workhouses.

4. Those persons subjected to security measures in nursing homes or institutions or in a penal psychiatric hospital may be assigned work, if this is judged to be useful for therapeutic purposes.

5. The organisation and methods employed with regard to prison work must reflect those of employment in free society so that the prisoners can acquire a vocational training adequate for normal working conditions, so as to facilitate their re-integration into society.

6. When assigning work to prisoners, account must be taken of the length of time spent while detained or interned without having any employment, of dependents and professionalism, as well as previous, documented activities performed and jobs which the prisoners could undertake after their release, except in the case of prisoners and internees subjected to a regime of special surveillance as set out in article 14b of this law.

7. Appointment to a job performed inside the prison will respect the classifications set out in two special lists, one of which is general and the other deals with qualifications or trades.

8. A committee is set up in each prison to draw up the classification within the lists and for the nulla osta for the bodies that are to arrange employment. The committee comprises the Governor, an inspector or superintendent of the Prison Police Force and a member of the teaching staff, all elected by the members of the particular category represented, a representative elected unanimously by the most representative union organisations on the national level, a representative chosen by the district committee for employment competent with regard to that particular area and by a representative of the area’s union organisations.

9. A representative of the prisoners and the internees, chosen by lot in accordance with the methods described in the prison’s internal regulations, participates in the meetings of the committee, without voting powers.

10. A substitute is appointed for each member elected or chosen in accordance with the aforesaid criteria.

11. The general discipline regarding ordinary and agricultural employment is applied to external work, and so is article 19 of law n. 56 dated February 28^th 1987.

12. As regards anything not envisaged by this article, the general discipline relating to employment is applied.

13. The prison management, notwithstanding the regulations of general state accounting and those of special accounting, may sell the items produced by prison workers at cost price or less upon authorisation by the Ministry of Justice; whenever possible, account is to be taken of the prices practised for similar products in the wholesale market in the area where the prison is situated.

14. Prisoners or internees who demonstrate an aptitude for craft work or for cultural or artistic activities may be excused from ordinary work and be allowed to practise artisan, intellectual or artistic activities on their own account.

15. Persons who do not have sufficient technical knowledge may be admitted to a paid apprenticeship.

16. Employment may not continue beyond the limits laid down in the labour laws currently in force and, in line with these laws, holidays are guaranteed as well as insurance and social security cover. Prisoners and internees who attend vocational training courses as described in the first paragraph are guaranteed insurance and every other type of protection envisaged by the measures in force relating to such courses, within the limits of the regional appropriations.

17. By March 31^st each year, the Minister of Justice will present to Parliament an analytical report describing the extent to which the legal measures relating to the prisoners’ work have been put into effect during the previous year.

Employment outside the prison

1. Prisoners and internees may be assigned work outside the prison under such conditions as to guarantee the positive achievement of the aims envisaged by article 15. However, if the person concerned has been given a prison sentence for one of the crimes described in paragraph 1 of article 4b, employment outside the prison may be undertaken only after at least one third of the sentence has been served and, in any case, no more than five years. In the case of a prisoner serving a life sentence, such employment may be assigned after at least ten years have been served.

2. Prisoners and internees assigned to employment outside the prison premises are allowed to work without an escort, unless the latter is considered necessary for reasons of security. Prisoners are allowed to work outside the prison premises upon receiving authorisation for the same from the competent judicial authority.

3. When a private company is concerned, the work must be performed under the direct control of the institution to which the prisoner or internee has been assigned, which may avail itself in this respect of the assistance of the staff employed therein and the social services.

4. The measure assigning employment outside the prison premises to a prisoner or internee becomes enforceable after the supervisory magistrate has approved it.

4b. The measures described in the preceding paragraph and the measure described in the second sentence of the sixteenth paragraph of article 20 are also applied with regard to the prisoners and internees allowed to attend vocational training courses outside the prison premises.

Religion and the practice of religious observances

1. Prisoners and internees are free to profess their religious faith, to be instructed in the same and to practise observance of the same.

2. Celebration of the rites of the Catholic Church is ensured in the prisons.

3. At least one chaplain is appointed to each prison.

4. Those persons belonging to a cult other than Catholicism have the right to receive the assistance of ministers of their own faith upon request and to celebrate the rites of the same.

Cultural, recreational and sporting activities

1. Cultural, recreational and sporting activities are to be encouraged and organised in the prisons, together with any other activity aimed at enriching the prisoners’ and internees’ personalities, also within the framework of the re-educational treatment.

2. A committee comprising the prison Governor, instructors and social workers and representatives of the prisoners and internees is responsible for the organisation of the activities mentioned in the preceding paragraph, also maintaining contact with the world outside prison useful for re-integration into society.

Communications relating to the state of detention, transfers, illness and deaths

1. Prisoners and internees are able to inform their relatives and any other persons named by them of their entrance into a penal institution or of their transfer.

2. Should a prisoner or internee die or suffer a severe physical or psychological infirmity, the relatives and any other persons he has named must be notified immediately. In the same way, prisoners and internees must be immediately notified of the death or serious illness of the persons described in the preceding paragraph.

Leave of absence

1. Should a member of the family or a cohabitant be at the point of death, prisoners and internees may be granted permission to visit the sick person by the supervisory magistrate taking the necessary precautions envisaged by the regulations. Permission is granted to remand prisoners during the lower court proceedings by the same competent judicial authorities in accordance with the second paragraph of article 11 to arrange for transfer of the remand prisoner to external nursing homes until the lower court sentence has been delivered. During the appeal hearing the President of the Court in responsible and during Court of Cassation proceedings the President of the Bench where the appeal has been herd is responsible.

2. Similar leaves of absence may be granted in exceptional cases for particularly serious family events.

3. Any prisoner who has not returned to the institution by the time the leave expires, without justification for such absence, is disciplined if the absence is protracted for more than three hours and for no more than twelve hours; should the absence be of longer duration, the prisoner will be punished in accordance with the first paragraph of article 385 of the penal code and the measure set out in the last paragraph of that same article is applicable.

4. An internee who returns to the institution after three hours from expiry of the leave without justification is disciplined.

Measures and complaints with regard to leave of absence

1. Before deciding upon a request for leave of absence, the competent authority must gather information as to the actual validity of the reasons put forward from the local Police Force, also from the Police of the place to which the applicant intends to go.

2. Grounds for the decision relating to the request are given.

3. The measure is communicated immediately and informally, the telegraph or telephone may also be employed, to the Public Prosecutor and to the person concerned, both of whom may lodge a complaint within twenty-four hours of the communication: if the measure has been issued by the supervisory magistrate, to the supervisory court or, if the measure has been issued by another judicial body, to the appeal court.

4. The supervisory court or the appeal court, having gathered basic information, if necessary, takes steps within ten days from receipt of the protest, communicating the same immediately in line with the preceding paragraph.

5. The supervisory magistrate or the President of the Court of Appeal is not a member of the Bench which must decide upon the complaint lodged against the measure issued by himself.

6. When it is not possible to set up the supervisory court with the district supervisory magistrates, because of the instruction set out in the preceding paragraph, the court is completed in accordance with article 68, the third and fourth paragraphs.

7. Leave of absence is suspended until expiry of the term fixed by the third paragraph and while the proceedings envisaged by the fourth paragraph are in progress, until expiry of the term envisaged therein.

8. The instructions of the preceding paragraph do not apply to leaves of absence granted in accordance with the first paragraph of article 30. In this case an escort is necessary.

9. The Attorney General of the Court of Appeal is notified of any leaves of absence granted and the relevant outcome by a quarterly report from the authorities who issued them.

Bonus leave of absence

1. Prisoners who have conducted themselves in accordance with the standards as laid down below in paragraph 8 and who are not a risk to society may be rewarded with leaves of absence lasting no longer than fifteen days each time, granted by the supervisory magistrate after he has consulted with the prison Governor, for the purpose of cultivating emotional, cultural or employment concerns. The duration of the leave of absence may not exceed a total of forty-five days in each year of the sentence.

1-b [repealed].

2. The duration of the leaves of absence granted as a bonus for good behaviour for juvenile offenders may not exceed twenty days each time and the total may not exceed sixty days in each year of the sentence.

3. The experience of leave of absence bonuses is an integral part of the treatment programme and must be followed by the institution’s instructors and social workers in collaboration with the territorial social services.

4. Leaves of absence are granted:

1. in the case of prisoners under arrest or serving a sentence of no longer than three years, even if added to the arrest;

2. in the case of prisoners serving a sentence of more than three years, unless envisaged by the provisions of c), after having served at least one quarter of the sentence;

3. in the case of prisoners sentenced for any one of the crimes described in paragraph 1 of article 4b, after having served at least half the sentence and, in any case, not more than ten years;

4. in the case of prisoners serving a life sentence after they have served at least ten years.

1. In the case of prisoners who have been sentenced or who are charged with a fraudulent crime committed while they were serving their sentence or who have been subjected to restriction of their personal liberty, the concession will be granted only after two years have passed since the crime was committed.

2. The precautions envisaged for leaves of absence set out in the first paragraph of article 30 are applied whenever necessary; the provisions set out in the third and fourth paragraphs of that same article are also applied.

3. The bonus relating to leaves of absence is subject to a complaint to a supervisory court, in accordance with the procedure laid down in the article 30b.

4. The behaviour of the prisoners is judged to be regular when, during their detention, they have displayed a constant sense of responsibility and correctness in their personal behaviour, in the activities organised by the institution and in any employment or cultural activities undertaken.

Formation of representative council of prisoners and internees

1. The representative council of prisoners and internees envisaged by articles 12 and 27 is appointed by lot, in accordance with the method described in the institutions’s internal regulations.

Right of Complaint

1. Prisoners and internees may forward petitions or complaints orally or in writing, even in a sealed envelope to:

1. the prison Governor, as well as to the inspectors, the Director of penal institutions and the Minister of Justice;

2. the supervisory magistrate;

3. the judicial and health authorities visiting the institution;

4. the Chair of the Regional Council;

5. the Head of State.

Rewards

1. Rewards represent the recognition of the prisoner’s sense of responsibility demonstrated in his personal conduct and in the activities organised in the institutions.

2. Rewards and the bodies competent to award them are envisaged by the regulations.

Breaches of discipline

1. Prisoners and internees cannot be punished for any act that is not especially envisaged as a violation of the regulations.

2. No sanction may be imposed except through a reasoned measure based on reasonable grounds; after the person concerned has been notified of the accusation, he is allowed to put forward his defence.

3. In applying sanctions, the behaviour and personal condition of the person concerned must be taken into account as well as the kind and gravity of the event.

4. Sanctions are carried out while respecting the personality of the prisoner being disciplined.

Disciplinary sanctions

1. Breaches of discipline may result in the following sanction:

1. a summons from the Governor;

2. a warning issued by the Governor, in the presence of members of staff and a group of prisoners or internees;

3. exclusion from recreational and sporting activities for a period not exceeding ten days;

4. solitary confinement during the daily period spent out-of-doors, for a period not exceeding ten days;

5. exclusion from communal activities for a period not exceeding fifteen days.

1. The penalty of exclusion from communal activities may not be enforced without written certification from the doctor, attesting that the prisoner concerned is able to bear the same. A person excluded from communal activities has to undergo regular health check-ups.

2. Enforcement of the penalty of exclusion from communal activities is suspended totally in the case of pregnant women, for six months with regard to those having recently given birth and for one year for breast-feeding mothers.

Authorities competent to decide upon sanctions

1. The sanctions of summons and warning are decided by the Governor.

2. The other sanctions are decided upon by the disciplinary committee, comprising the Governor or, should he have just cause to be absent, the highest-ranking employee, acting as Chair, the doctor and the instructor.

Emergencies

1. In exceptional cases of riot or other serious emergencies, the Minister of Justice has the power to suspend application of the normal rules for treating prisoners and internees in the institution concerned or in part of it. Such suspension must be motivated by the need to restore order and security and duration of the same must be whatever is strictly necessary for attaining the aforesaid purpose.

2. When there are serious motives for alarm with regard to order and public safety, the Minister of Justice has the power to suspend, wholly or in part, application of the rules for treatment and the institutional regulations envisaged by this law that may prove to be in contrast with the requirements for law and order with regard to prisoners sentenced for certain of the crimes detailed in paragraph 1 of article 4b; the Minister of the Interior may also request such a measure.

2b. The supervisory court that has jurisdiction over the institution in which the prisoner, internee or remand prisoner is confined is competent to deliver judgement on complaints lodged against measures adopted by the Ministry of Justice in accordance with paragraph 2. Such competence remains valid even in the case of a transfer arranged for one of the reasons set out in article 42.

Transfers

1. Transfers are arranged for serious and proven reasons of security, for the institution’s requirements, for reasons of justice, health, education or family matters.

2. The criterion of transferring the prisons concerned to institutions near the residence of their family must be favoured when arranging transfers.

3. Prisoners and internees must be transferred with their own personal luggage and at least part of their own money

4. [repealed]

5. [repealed]

Release

1. Release of prisoners and internees must be arranged by the prison administration without delay on the basis of an order written by the competent judicial authority or the Police.

2. The prison Governor notifies the social services committee and the social services centre of the place where the institution is situated of imminent release and also those of the place where the person concerned intends to reside, at least three months in advance, communicating to them all the information necessary for arranging the appropriate assistance. If the date of release cannot be forecast three months in advance, the Governor gives the required information as soon as he comes into possession of such knowledge.

3. Besides what is established by specific provisions of the law, the Governor notifies in advance the supervisory magistrate, the questor and the police station in the area concerned about any releases from the institution, even temporary ones.

4. The institution’s disciplinary committee issues the persons concerned, if he so requests, a certificate containing any information as regards his conduct; this certificate is issued either when the person is released or subsequently.

5. Those persons who do not possess any civilian clothing are provided with a set of the same.

Probation with the social services

1. If the prison sentence to be served does not exceed three years, the prisoner may be given in care to the social services outside the institution for a period equal to that of the sentence.

[omissis]

Probation in special cases

[repealed]

(I) The measure in question is now regulated by art. 94 of the Presidential Decree n. 309 dated October 9^th 1990, which contains the complete text of the laws on illegal drugs.

House arrest

1. A sentence of detention not exceeding four years, even if this is the residual portion of a longer sentence, as well as arrest in custody, may be served in the prisoner’s own home or in some other private dwelling place, or in a public centre of medical treatment, assistance or reception, when the following classes of person are involved:

1. a pregnant woman or the mother of a child or children under ten years of age living with her;

2. the father, granted custody, of a child or children under ten years of age living with him, when the mother is deceased or otherwise unable to look after the child/children;

3. a person suffering from particularly severe health problems that require constant contact with the area health authorities;

4. persons over sixty years of age, if they are even partially disabled;

5. a person under twenty-one years of age with proven needs relating to health, education, employment or family.

1 b. House arrest may be granted to a prisoner to serve a sentence of no more than two years, even if this is the residual portion of a longer sentence, irrespective of the conditions set out in paragraph 1, when the provisions for probation under the social services do not exist and always supposing that the measure is such as to prevent the prisoner from committing other crimes. The measure does not apply to prisoners sentenced for the crimes detailed in art. 4b.

1 c. When the compulsory or optional deferment of the sentence may be arranged, in accordance with articles 146 and 147 of the penal code, the supervisory court may arrange for house arrest even if the sentence exceeds the limits set out in paragraph 1, setting a term for duration of the same. This term may be prolonged. Service of the sentence continues during the period of house arrest.

[omissis]

Semi-freedom

1. The semi-freedom state consists in allowing the prisoner and internee to spend part of the day outside the institution to take part in employment or educational activities or, in any case, activities that are useful for their re-integration into society.

[omissis]

Granting semi-freedom

1. Remand and detention sentences of a duration not exceeding six months may be served in a regime of semi-freedom, if the prisoner is not on probation.

2. Apart from the cases described in paragraph 1, the prisoner may be allowed to serve the state of semi-freedom only after completing at least half of the sentence or, if the prisoner has been sentenced for one of the crimes detailed in paragraph 1 of article 4b, at least two-thirds of it. The internee may be granted the measure at any time. However, with regard to the cases envisaged by article 47, should the assumptions for probation be lacking, the prisoner serving a sentence for a crime other than those detailed in paragraph 1 of article 4b may be admitted to a state of semi-freedom, even before he has served half the sentence.

3. No account is taken of any financial penalty imposed jointly with that of detention when calculating the duration of the sentence.

4. The granting of the state of semi-freedom is arranged in relation to the progress made during the course of the sentence, when conditions exist for the prisoner’s gradual re-integration into society.

5. A prisoner serving a life sentence may be admitted to a state of semi-freedom after having served at least twenty years of the sentence.

[omissis]

Suspension and repeal of the state of semi-freedom

1. The measure of semi-freedom may be revoked at any time when the person concerned does not prove to be suitable for the treatment.

2. The prisoner admitted to a state of semi-freedom who absents himself from the institution for more than twelve hours without any justification for his action is disciplined and revocation of the privilege may be proposed.

3. Should absence be protracted for more than twelve hours, the prisoner may be punished in accordance with the first paragraph of article 385 of the penal code and the provisional of the last paragraph of that same article is applicable.

4. Report of the offence described in the preceding paragraph results in suspension of the privilege and a sentence issued for the same results in revocation.

5. If an internee granted the state of semi-freedom is absent from the institution without justification for more than three hours, the provisions of the last paragraph of article 53 are applicable.

Precautionary suspension of the alternative measures

1. If the person on probation or granted the state of semi-freedom or house arrest demonstrates such behaviour as to lead to revocation of the provision, the supervisory magistrate under whose jurisdiction the event is taking place may arrange for the temporary suspension of the same by a reasoned decree ordering that the transgressor be taken back to the institution. Then he immediately communicates a report to the supervisory court so that the appropriate decisions may be taken. The suspension ordered by the supervisory magistrate ceases to be effective if the decision taken by the supervisory court has not intervened within thirty days of receiving the report.

Leave of absence for prisoners granted regime of semi-freedom

1. A prisoner granted the right to the regime of semi-freedom may be granted one or more leaves of absence as a bonus, of a duration not exceeding a total of forty-five days a year in all.

2. During the leave of absence, the prisoner is subjected to supervision.

3. If the prisoner neglects the obligations imposed upon him during his leave of absence, the leave may be revoked, irrespective of any revocation of the state of semi-freedom.

4. The provisions detailed in the preceding article are applicable to the prisoner who does not return to the institution at the end of his leave of absence or after the same has been revoked.

Leave of absence for internees

1. A leave of absence for six months may be granted to internees in the period immediately preceding the date fixed for revision of their risk.

2. Leave of absence for a period not exceeding fifteen days may be granted to internees for serious personal or family problems; leave of absence for a period not exceeding thirty days may also be granted once a year in order to favour the social re-adaptation of the same.

3. The leave of absence envisaged in the first paragraph of the preceding article may also be granted to internees enjoying the state of semi-freedom, as a reward.

4. During the leave, the internee is subjected to supervision.

5. If the internee neglects the obligations imposed upon him during his leave, the said leave may be revoked, irrespective of revocation of the state of semi-freedom.

6. The internee who has not returned to the institution within three hours after the leave of absence has expired, without offering any justification, is disciplined and, if he is enjoying a state of semi-freedom, may have this concession revoked.

Calculation of the duration of a leave of absence

1. The time spent by the prisoner or internee on leave of absence is calculated according to the duration of the sentence restricting his personal liberty, except for cases when the prisoner does not return or other serious cases of misbehaviour from which the person concerned proves himself undeserving of the privilege. In these cases, the supervisory magistrate decides upon exclusion from the calculation by decree.

2. A complaint against the decree may be lodged by the person concerned with the supervisory court, in accordance with the procedure laid down in article 14 c. The magistrate who has issued the provision is not a member of the committee.

Early release

1. The prisoner undergoing detention who has given proof of his participation in the process of re-education is granted a reduction of forty-five days for every six months served, in recognition of such participation and in order to encourage his effective reintegration into society. For the above purpose, the period spent in protective custody or house arrest is also evaluated.

[omissis]

Remission of debt

1. Debts incurred for legal expenses and maintenance are remitted for prisoners and internees who find themselves in a poor economic situation and who have behaved correctly in accordance with the last paragraph of article 30 c. The request for such remission may be forwarded as long as the procedure for recovering costs has not been concluded.

Art. 57

Legitimization of the request for privileges

1. The treatment and the privileges set out in articles 47, 50, 52, 53, 54 and 56 may be requested by the prisoner, internee or their near relations or proposed by the disciplinary committee.

Art. 58 c

Persons who collaborate with the law

1. The provisions of paragraph 1 of article 21, paragraph 4 of article 30c and paragraph 2 of article 50, concerning persons sentenced for any one of the crimes detailed in paragraph 1 of article 4b, do not apply to those who, even after sentencing, endeavour to prevent criminal activity from leading to further consequences, or who have assisted the judicial authorities to gather the decisive elements for the reconstruction of the events and to identify or arrest the perpetrators of the crime.

2. The conduct described in paragraph 1 is assessed by the supervisory court, having gathered the necessary information and heard the Public Prosecutor before the judge competent for the crimes in relation to which collaboration has been given.

Art. 58 d

Prohibition of privileges

1. Assignment of outside employment, leave of absence as a bonus, probation under the social services in the cases envisaged by article 47, house arrest and semi-freedom may not be granted to the prisoner sentenced for one of the crimes envisaged by paragraph 1 of article 4b who has behaved in a way subject to punishment in accordance with article 385 of the penal code.

2. The provision of paragraph 1 is also applied to the prisoner who has had an alternative measure revoked, in accordance with paragraph 11 of article 47, paragraph 6 of article 47c, or the first paragraph of article 51.

3. The prohibition on the concession of privileges is valid for a period of three years from the moment when execution of detention or sentence is resumed, or when the revocation as of paragraph 2 has been issued.

4. Those sentenced for the crimes detailed in article 289b and 630 of the penal code, who have caused the death of a hostage, are not allowed any of the privileges described in paragraph 1 of article 46 unless they have actually served at least two thirds of the penalty inflicted or, in the case of a life sentence, at least twenty-six years.

5. In addition to what is envisaged by paragraphs 1 and 3, assignment of outside employment, leaves of absence and the measures alternative to imprisonment set out in Chapter VI cannot be granted or, if already granted, must be revoked in the case of persons undergoing trial or sentenced for any of the crimes described in paragraph 1 of article 4b, with regard to a fraudulent crime punished by imprisonment for no less than a maximum of three years, committed by a person who has comported himself in such a way as to be sentenced in accordance with article 385 of the penal code, either while working outside the institution or while enjoying a bonus leave of absence or a measure alternative to imprisonment.

6. In order to apply the provision set out in paragraph 5, the authority hearing proceedings for the new crime notifies the supervisory magistrate at the place where the accused was last confined about the situation.

7. The prohibition on privileges as described in paragraph 5 is valid for a period of five years from the time when the custody or sentence is resumed or when the revocation measure has been issued.