Security, Cdm OKs corrective decree on assisted voluntary repatriations From knives to migrants: what will change

Palazzo Chigi has already put its hand to the rule and obtained the green light from the Quirinale.

The new wording, as already anticipated in Il Sole 24 Ore, broadens the range of subjects who will be able to facilitate the participation of foreigners in voluntary return programmes and generally concerns 'the representative with a mandate'. The measures are within the corrective measure approved by the Council of Ministers.

Even the resources put in place do not particularly vary: as this newspaper has already written, they remain at around half a million euros, while the estimates assume a voluntary remigration of around 800 people per year compared to 330 per year between 2023 and 2025.

The measure will last three years, until 2028. An estimated 913 repatriations per year are expected.

Meanwhile, the central datum of the Decree is this: the charges certified by the State General Accounting Office, with positive verification on 21 April, are worth 50.5 million euros in 2026. The largest slice comes from Article 6 onurban security: 48 million, of which 19 million for municipal video surveillance and 29 million for the urban security fund.

To these are added 2 million provided for in Article 26, which refinances the Viminale's expenditure authorisation destined, according to the Chamber's dossier, to the Fund for the valorisation of property confiscated from the mafias.

Then there are EUR 500,000 from Article 25, earmarked for the amnesty of the attendance allowance for prison police personnel in Sicily.

But the real weight, in the medium term, is on Article 18.

The anticipation of the competition for 2,400 senior inspectors produces an expenditure of 7.6 million in 2027, then 4.8 million a year from 2028 to 2034 for overtime, another 4.8 million in 2035 for the effects on the progression to deputy commissioner, and again 4.8 million a year from 2036 onwards. Total over the decade: 51.2 million.

On the other hand, CHF 20 million are coming in from the Swiss Confederation for the construction of CPR, implementing the Italia-Switzerland framework agreement of May 2024.

The most relevant financial value, however, does not lie only in the direct figures. It lies above all in the derogations to the spending constraints of municipalities on tourist tax, fine revenue and the urban security fund: resources that are already present in local budgets and that can also be used for municipal police overtime.

On the front of bladed weapons, juvenile violence and theft, the decree introduces a package of tightenings. The new offence of unjustified carrying of knives, with imprisonment of up to three years, prohibition of sale to minors and accessory sanctions entrusted to the prefect, is created. The police commissioner's warning is also extended to minors. 

The confiscation is extended to aggravated robbery and the new gang robbery, and the theft by stealth of means of payment and devices is also included.

It also becomescompulsory to confiscate the vehicles of drug dealers and is excluded when the dealing is continuous.

One of the pillars of the measure is urban security. There are reinforced surveillance zones identified by the prefect and arrest indeferred flagrante delicto for damage committed during events.

Penalties against illegal parkers are tightened, with arrests of up to one year and six months in aggravated cases.

Also introduced is the coercive accompaniment to police offices for up to 12 hours for persons considered dangerous. But here the Chamber's Study Service points out a critical point: the regulation does not specify the purpose of the investigations.

Dangerous flight from the halt is punished with imprisonment of six months to five years. It also extends the prosecution ex officio for injuries to public transport personnel and escalates penalties for assaults on teachers and railway workers.

The rules introduce the preliminary judicial record, in a separate register, for acts committed in the presence of an 'obvious' cause of justification, with a decision on dismissal within thirty days.

The measure is designed for the police, but is also extended to all citizens. However, the Study Service of the Chamber highlights two critical points: on the one hand, the semantic breadth of the term 'evident', and on the other hand, the lack of coordination with Article 412 of the Code of Judicial Procedure on avocation.

In addition, uniformed personnel are retroactively exempted from the obligation to track mission expenses.

An important part of the Security Decree also concerns the structure of the police force. The competition for 2,400 senior inspectors of the State Police is brought forward to 2027 and transformed into a competition for titles only. Until 31 December 2027, competitions for inspectors are reserved for university graduates.

The term of office of the Deputy Commander General of the Carabinieri is set at two years. That of the Commander General of the Guardia di Finanza is extended to 31 December 2026.

Finally, the grounds for exclusion from promotions in the GdF are tightened: conviction at first instance, plea bargain or enforceable criminal decree for a non-culpable offence.

On the immigration chapter, the decree focuses on identification, expulsions and CPR. Foreign detainees are required to cooperate in the ascertainment of identity, with possible effects on early release.

A derogation from the Public Contracts Code is also introduced until 31 December 2028 to build and renovate detention centres for repatriation.

It restricts access to legal aid for non-EU foreigners in appeals against deportation.

Paragraph 3 of Article 29 repeals the provision of the Consolidated Law on Legal Expenses that allowed for a lawyer to be obtained at the State's expense even outside the ordinary income limits. The technical report of the Ragioneria liquidates the point in one line, without estimating the financial effects. But the operational impact is strong.

As from 25 February 2026, those who challenge deportation will have to come under the ordinary rules of legal aid and demonstrate the income requirement.

A step which, for a foreigner in transit or detained administratively, often without established tax relations in Italia, risks being impossible in the time of litigation.

The result is a concrete squeeze on the right of defence. Also because the measure is added to the other novelties of the same Article 29, which allow direct detention in the CPR without a new measure in case of repeated violation of expulsion orders.

Thus, the perimeter of technical protection on the immigration front narrows further.