Justice, DL on the penitentiary system and criminal reform

The Council of Ministers approved, on the proposal of the Minister of Justice Carlo Nordio, a decree law with two interventions concerning the penitentiary system and the reform of the criminal process. 

The first point of the provision aims to ensure - within the deadline of 8 November indicated by the Constitutional Court to Parliament - a response to the warning contained in the ordinance no. 97 of 2021, concerning the prohibition of penitentiary benefits to prisoners for serious crimes who do not collaborate with the law. The text indicates stringent requirements for acknowledging the findings of the judges of the Council and at the same time preventing subjects who may still have links with the criminal context of origin from being admitted to reward measures. The decree takes full account of the proposed law - relating to art. 4bis of the penitentiary system - already approved by the Chamber of Deputies in the last legislature and focuses above all on the conditions for the granting of these benefits: for the condemned for so-called impedimental offenses, good prison behavior or participation in treatment alone will not suffice, but specific elements are introduced which make it possible to exclude the actuality of links with organized crime or the risk of re-establishing such contacts. 

No automatism, therefore, in the mechanism for granting penitentiary benefits, according to the indications of the Constitutional Court, but security guarantees are also ensured through a reinforced procedure for assessing requests, which also provides for the obligation on the part of the supervisory judge to acquire multiple opinions, including that of the National Anti-Mafia and Counter-Terrorism Prosecutor. Furthermore, the text introduces changes regarding the granting of conditional release (the request can be presented after serving 30 years of sentence) and provides for a transitional rule for prisoners who have committed crimes before the reform comes into force. 

The second point of the decree-law concerns the reform of the criminal process and the sanctioning system. In the face of concerns raised by judicial system operators on the impact of the new rules, the postponement of the entry into force of legislative decree no. 150/2022 for a period not exceeding two months. 

The deferral will make it possible to refine organizational measures already initiated and adequate technological support, to guarantee the judicial offices the best conditions for a full, timely and effective application of the reform already approved, as well as to evaluate the adoption of further transitional rules. To this end, a specific task force has already been set up at the Ministry of Justice, composed of the heads of all the departments of the Ministry of Justice involved. 

The legislative decree concerning the criminal trial and the sanctioning system constitutes a milestone of the PNRR and must enter into force no later than 30 December 2022, to ensure compliance with the deadlines and commitments made with Europe.

Justice, DL on the penitentiary system and criminal reform