No family leave for theatre inmates
The 'necessity' permit, limited to family needs, for out-of-prison performances cannot be extended to those who are not eligible for premium leave
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Key points
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The probation magistrate cannot grant the so-calledpermit of necessity to inmates who are part of a theatre company, to participate in a performance as part of a resocialisation project. The Court of Cassation, in a series of judgments, upheld the appeals of the public prosecutor's office against the green light, given by the probation magistrate and endorsed by the Court, to some inmates called to perform in atheatre outside the prison.
An OK that had come despite the negative opinion of theDistrict Anti-Mafia Directorate, which had weighed in on the failure of some, with sentences already served, for hostile offences.
The possibility of extending the permit
.For the judges who had said yes to the recitation outside the walls, there were, in fact, no security risks thanks to the presence of the prison police escort. Both the supervisory magistrate and the court had affirmed the possibility of extending the leave, provided for by Article 30 of the prison regulations, granted for family needs, to specific treatment needs as well. A decision, in the judges' opinion, in line with the aim of humanisation of punishment. Because the theatrical activity, passionately followed in prison, is such that it has a significant impact on re-education and re-socialisation.
But for the Supreme Court this is just a stretch. Granting people, who are not in a position to make use of thepermanent permits, the possibility of availing themselves of those limited to family reasons, is tantamount to disapplying a rule, designed to protect the needs of the affective nucleus. The strict conclusion is that it cannot be applied outside the cases specifically described by the legislator.
"The granting of the permit motivated only by stating that participation in a theatrical performance to be held outside the prison," reads the judgment, "is relevant for the gradual reintegration of the detainee into society distorts the function of the permit of necessity, which is not aimed at the social rehabilitation and re-education of the detainee, a function performed instead by the permit-reward provided for in Article 30-ter of the Prison Ordinance.
