Nordio: in two years more than 50 million paid for unfair detention

More than50 million will be paid out by the State in the two-year period 2024-October 2025 for unjust imprisonment. The data were provided yesterday by the minister of Justice Carlo Nordio during question time at the Chamber of Deputies, in response to a question by Enrico Costa (Forza Italia). In detail, the indemnifications amounted to 26.9 million euro for the whole of 2024; from 1 January 2025 to 31 October 2025, 535 applications were accepted for a total amount to be borne by the Treasury of 23,850,925 euro. From the Ministry of the Economy it was then further specified that, with an update to 25 November, during 2025, 913 applications were submitted.

In particular, the highest figures are recorded at the Court of Appeal of Reggio Calabria, with 77 settled claims for 5,486,000 euros, and at the Court of Catanzaro, with 126 claims for 4,311,000 euros. They are followed by Palermo, with 32 liquidated claims for an amount of 2,905,000, and Rome, with 40 claims for an amount of 2,552,000 euros.

The latest Report to Parliament, however, recalls that the historical series of the total number of proceedings that have arisen to obtain areparation for wrongful imprisonment in the years 2018-2024 shows a substantial stability, with an annual average of 1,232 proceedings arising.

But Nordio also provided data on the precautionary measures applied during 2024: a total of 94,168, of which 48,900 were custodial (i.e. custody in prison, house arrest or place of treatment). Then the minister recalled the importance of the two reform elements introduced, one already in force, the need for the preventive interrogation  before the application of a personal pre-trial measure, and one operational in a few months' time, with the obligation for the decision to be taken by a panel and no longer by the Gip alone.

It is worth mentioning, on the basis of the same Ministry's report submitted to Parliament, that 83% of the proceedings in which a precautionary measure is issued is concluded within the year of its application, "a circumstance that is probably due to the fact that serious indications of guilt already exist against the person and the judge, in issuing a precautionary measure, already has probable well-founded evidence". Moreover, as for the outcome, for 9 out of 10 measures issued in settled proceedings, the final verdict was one of conviction.