Justice

Sciascia-Tortora bill, ad hoc training and prison apprenticeship for magistrates

It aims at a more humane and conscious justice, with professionals able to act with respect for the rights and dignity of others

by Camilla Curcio

1 July 2025

3' min read

Key points

What the bill consists of
Rights and Dignity of Prisoners at the Centre

3' min read

An extensive restyling of the training path of magistrates to train professionals able to reconcile competence and empathy. This is the aim of the law project Sciascia-Tortora, a proposal aiming at a "more human and aware justice", at the centre of a series of public meetings that stopped in Milan yesterday, in one of the most representative places of the Italian prison system: the San Vittore prison.

The event, organised by the Milan Bar Association and the Milanese Criminal Chamber and coordinated by Guido Camera, president of Italia Stato di diritto, also saw the collaboration of the promoters of the legislative initiative, which was examined by the Chamber of Deputies yesterday: the Amici di Leonardo Sciascia association, ItaliaStatodidiritto, the Enzo Tortora International Foundation for Justice, the Società della Ragione and the Union of Criminal Chambers. Prominent institutional, academic and forensic figures were among the guests, including Maria Elena Boschi, Benedetto Della Vedova, Debora Serracchiani and Giorgio Mulé, parliamentarians and signatories of the bill, Federico Papa, president of the Milan Criminal Chamber, Roberto Crepaldi, magistrate of the Gip-Gup section of the Milan Court, Francesca Biondi, lecturer at the University of Milan, Simona Viola, president of the Amici di Leonardo Sciascia association and Francesca Scopelliti, Enzo Tortora's partner.

What the bill consists of

The bill is essentially based on three key points:

1) the compulsory introduction of the study of prison law in the training of magistrates;

2) the inclusion of literature dedicated to justice, fundamental rights and the drifts of the rule of law, in order to open a constructive debate and a cultural and civil reflection on the role the judge should have;

3) a compulsory 'experiential' internship - lasting 15 days - in prison, including an overnight stay. A tool that, thanks to field work, can help to concretely understand the condition of a prisoner and the effects of judicial decisions. An experiment already invoked by Piero Calamandrei ('you have to see, you have to be there to give an account') and, even more so, by Leonardo Sciascia, in his civil reflection on the relationship between justice and truth: 'A remedy, paradoxical as it may be, would be to make every magistrate, once he has passed the exam and won the competition, spend at least three days in prison among ordinary prisoners. It would be an indelible experience, one that would provoke acute reflection and painful agitation every time a warrant is about to be signed or a sentence drawn up'.

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Rights and Dignity of Prisoners at the Centre

It is, therefore, a change of pace that is needed to reform the magistrate's approach. And not only a legislative realignment. "San Vittore, a place that is not only a symbol of detention, but also a space for deep reflection on the meaning of justice," commented Antonino La Lumia, president of the Milan Bar Association, speaking during the presentation. "This bill not only proposes a regulatory reform but also places at the centre of the magistrate's training the human and cultural awareness of their role. It is a proposal that interrogates the conscience of those who administer justice, urging a closer look at the reality of imprisonment, the rights and dignity of people'.

The priority remains, therefore, to build a culture of jurisdiction that starts from awareness and lands on responsibility, in the sign of a reform that aims to recall justice in its most authentic dimension: the human, ethical and experience-based one.