If you are foreigner, together with the sentence it can also be applied to you the safety measure of the expulsion, that will be performed after you have carried out the prison sentence. In this case, before finishing to serve your sentence, the Supervisory Magistrate (Magistrato d Sorveglianza) fixes a hearing in order to verify if you are still socially dangerous and therefore if they have to proceed or not to the expulsion.

If you have positively concluded an alternative measure, the Magistrate can also request, in your favour, the cessation of the social dangerousness.

You have the right to remain in Italy up to the period of hearing for the re-examination and, to such end, you can request a temporary residence permit "for motives of justice", in order to be able to witness at the hearing which concerns you; if the hearing doesn’t have the hoped result, the expulsion becomes executive. In every case if, in your country of origin, you risk persecutions for racial motives or of politics, religion, sex, language or citizenship etc., you cannot be expelled: They also cannot expel minors, pregnant women and those women that have given birth recently, foreigners married to Italians, or living with parents/relatives (up to the fourth degree) of Italian nationality (art. 19 T.U. on the foreigner condition).

In these situations it is therefore appropriate to present it in advance, and apply in writing to the Police Headquarters(Questura).

Nevertheless, bear in mind, that the expulsion can also be prepared in other circumstances:

If you intend to remain in Italy after the term of the sentence and you have a residence permit, you have to request its renewal, by referring to the Office Matriculates or to the Educators Office, that will furnish a special form to be filled in and signed. This will be issued by the Direction of the Institute for the Police Headquarters, together with:

If the residence permit has expired during your jail sentence, request for it’s renewal, however, specifying not to have been fit to do so before hand, being prevented through reasons of force majeure (cause di forza maggiore).

Bear in mind that the residence permits are almost never come renewed to whoever is in the jail, however, in any case, it is appropriate to initiate it’s renewal in order to avoid its expiry.Once out, you can request that your question be re-examined.

Request a photocopy of the application which was forwarded from the educator and keep it: you can show it to the Police Headquarters after your release from prison and you can show evidences of having initiated it during it’s validity.

The European penitentiary rules

(Recommendation of the Committee of the Ministers of the Board of Europe 12.02.1987)

All penitentiary rules must impartially be applied. It doesn’t show any discrimination to you for race, sex, language, religion, political opinions or of other kind of social or national origins, birth or economic condition. The religious beliefs and moral principles of the group you belong to must be respected. During entry to the Institute, you have the right to receive information related to the penitentiary life, to the contacts with the judicial authority and to all that is necessary in order to know your rights and duties. You have the right to communicate to the Embassy (or to your Country Consulate) that you are found in state of detention.

You have the right to have an interpreter for relationships with the judges and with the public offices. If the trial is in progress, all the actions notified must be translated into your language. Keep with care every legal transaction that the Office Matriculates or the Bailiff (UfficialeGiudiziario) delivers you, it can be used in order to document any application, or petition, appeal, claim etc.

You have to be clearly satisfied with the demands of your religious and spiritual life. If in the institute there is an enough number of prisoners that profess the same religion, a qualified representative of this religion must be recognized or named: he can organize the services and the religious activities and carry out visits to the prisoners.

How to request transfer

It is possible to request transfer to the Country of which you are citizen and serve the Italian sentence there.

To such, you must apply for a relevant application to the Italian Minister of Justice, or to the Minister of Justice of the Country where you are citizen.

The transfer will be possible where the following conditions apply:

The sentence received in Italy will be converted into a sentence foreseen by the Penal Code of the State of destination for the same type of crime. However its penal position cannot be increased from the conversion (your sentence cannot be increased). The period carried out in the Italian prisons will be subtracted full from the sentence that will be assigned you.

You can receive possible amnesties or provisions of grace, from both the Italian State and the Country in which you will be transferred to. The possible review of a case will remain the exclusive competence of the Italian State.

Your extradition to another State can only be granted only when the fact concerning the application of extradition is foreseen as a crime from both the Italian law and that of the State of the applicant.

The extradition cannot be granted however in the following cases: