Italy

Article 27(3) of the Italian Constitution provides that punishments must aim at resocializing the convicted. This is reflected in the wide number of alternative measures which allow a prisoner to serve some or all of his sentence in the community (such as the most commonly used ‘probation period under social services supervision’ – affidamento in prova). Conditional release, or liberazione condizionale, is used less than these alternative measures. The chapter describes the different schemes, identifying the limited (and often inconsistent) role of the Supervision Tribunal and Supervision Judges. It concludes with a plea for greater clarity and a proper allocation of financial and human resources.