Justice

Juvenile detention centres: increased criminal oversight of young people

Data from Antigone confirm that the number of young people in IPMs remains stable. However, the workload on the juvenile justice services is increasing.

by Camilla Colombo

5 August 2026

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3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The most recent legislative measure, which concerned minors and safety, was the announcement of an amendment to Article 98 of the Criminal Code, introducing a relative presumption of capacity to understand and form intent for young people aged between 14 and 18. This marks a shift towards a security-based model which, rather than preventing social unrest, treats it as a matter of public order, with the risk of undermining the constitutional principle of the rehabilitative function through an automatic punitive response.

Highlighting this risk, following the warnings issued in recent days by criminal law experts and psychologists, is the mid-year report by Antigone, entitled ‘Summer in Italian prisons: overcrowding and emergencies’. In addition to a detailed analysis of the precarious situation in prisons – characterised by sweltering heat, high overcrowding rates, staff shortages and mental health and substance abuse issues amongst prisoners – the organisation takes stock of the situation in juvenile detention centres. This is particularly relevant since Giorgia Meloni’s government has expanded the range of criminal offences and intensified the use of pre-trial detention, even for the youngest offenders. Consider the Rave Decree of October 2022, the Caivano Decree of September 2023, or the latest security decrees of 2025–2026.

Attendance

According to the report published today, 5 August, by Antigone, there were 572 young prisoners in Italy’s 20 juvenile detention centres as at 30 June 2026, broadly in line with last year’s figures (559 as at 30 June, 572 as at 31 December). The rise in prison populations – which increased by 50 per cent following the entry into force of the Caivano Decree and is now fully implemented – was therefore due to harsher criminal sanctions and not to a gradual increase in more serious juvenile crime, as also noted by the institutions and third-sector organisations operating in the area.

The total number of boys and girls currently in the care of the Juvenile Justice services is a cause for concern, as it reflects a shift from a culture of social care, reception and local support towards that of criminal justice. There were 14,151 in October 2022, when the current government took office, and there are now 17,833, representing a 26 per cent increase. In the first six months of 2026, the figure rose by almost a thousand. The expansion of criminal control over minors, Antigone points out, goes hand in hand with a simplistic and alarmist narrative regarding issues affecting minors, which is not borne out by the data.

There are 1,368 young people in youth care homes (of whom only 16 are in state-run care homes), whilst probation involves 3,611 people and 566 people are subject to an alternative or substitute measure to detention, such as security measures, pre-trial detention, or house arrest.

The data

Of the 572 young people in IPMs (23 of whom are girls), 227 are foreign nationals, accounting for almost 40 per cent. Over 80 per cent of them come from North Africa (particularly Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt) and consist, for the most part, of unaccompanied foreign minors who have been unable to secure a place in external reception centres and have ended up in prison after living on the streets.

60 per cent of prisoners are minors and 40 per cent are young adults who committed the offence before reaching the age of majority. Among the minors, only 13 per cent have been given a final sentence, whilst the others are in prison on remand. 48.6 per cent of the offences attributed to young prisoners are property offences and 23.6 per cent are offences against the person.

In response to prison overcrowding, which has, for the first time, affected juvenile detention centres, the Government has taken a two-pronged approach: proceeding with transfers to adult prisons – 87 in the first six months of 2026 – and to open three new juvenile detention centres in L’Aquila, Lecce and Rovigo, thereby confirming a restrictive model that can only be seen as a major defeat for society, denounces the Antigone association.

The States General

In response to the cultural and regulatory changes currently taking place, Antigone, together with Libera and Defence for Children Italia, has launched the States General of Juvenile Justice, which has seen the registration of around 500 people, including academics, magistrates, lawyers, educators, doctors, directors of juvenile detention centres, ombudsmen, social workers, honorary judges, psychologists, secondary school teachers and students. There are six working groups (Youth Issues and the Criminal Justice Response, Juvenile Detention, Non-custodial Measures, Probation and Juvenile Communities, Young Migrants and the Juvenile Justice System, Skills, Organisation and Resources, Health and Measures for Minors), whose work, which began in May, will conclude in November with a conference to be held in Rome and the publication of the final reports.