Pre-trial detention, government tightens up on reform

Majority and government recompose themselves on the reform of pre-trial detention in prison. After a few 'tears' registered on the issue of prisons and on the effectiveness of the decree put in place by the Executive, Largo Arenula has announced that the next justice measure will concern the modification of the discipline for preventive detention. This had been said by the Guardasigilli, Carlo Nordio, during the majority summit at Palazzo Chigi while Parliament was voting on the decree on the prison emergency. And this is now also confirmed by the Minister for Relations with Parliament, Luca Ciriani, who, in an interview with Il Corriere della Sera, speaks of 'a hypothesis' being studied, of 'a sensitivity triggered by the Toti affair', while assuring that, at the moment, there are 'no written texts'. 'We will evaluate well, prudently, without any particular urgency,' he declares. Although the centre-right is assured that the various legislative offices are 'already at work'.

Because, apart from the fact that there will be a reform, the other thing that is certain is that it will be a government bill and not a parliamentary initiative. In fact, between the House and the Senate, there are about ten measures on the subject. One just presented by Tommaso Calderone (FI) in the Chamber; 2 by Davide Bellomo (League); one by Pietro Pittalis (FI); one by Roberto Scarpinato (M5S) in the Senate; one by Roberto Magi (+Eu); one by Edmondo Cirielli (FDI) at the beginning of the legislature; no less than 3 by Enrico Costa (Action). In almost all of them, it is explained that among the reasons why it is "necessary to intervene", there is "overcrowding", given that "more than 20% of prisoners are in preventive detention" also due to "abuses" in the application of the rule. "We at FI have been saying for a long time that action must be taken," Calderone explains, "because the concept of risk of reiteration of the crime, one of those for which pre-trial detention is ordered, is too vague. The rule must be understood in a much more stringent way'. And it would not have been Giovanni Toti's case to accelerate the reform, he explains because 'there are thousands of Toti's in Italy right now'.

The position is also very similar to that of the League, which, on the need to revise Article 274 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, i.e. the one on precautionary measures - as also recalled by the party's Justice responsible and president of the Justice Commission, Giulia Bongiorno - had presented a referendum in 2022 that had seen Nordio as president of the promoting committee. From the ministry, however, it is explained, will come not only a bill to reform the rule, but also a plan to counter the high number of suicides among prisoners and agents. Providing a bit of data on the fact that 'magistrates who make mistakes' almost never 'pay' is always Costa who reports the ministry's data according to which 'disciplinary sanctions' are imposed on judges for 'abuse of custody' in '0.2% of errors. That is, almost never'.