Habeas Corpus Rights: Italy

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Italy’s Constitution states in Article 13 that “No form of detention, inspection or personal search is admissible, nor any other restrictions on personal freedom except by order from a judicial authority which states the reasons, and only in cases and manners provided for by law.”[1]  Exceptions are made in the same article for “cases of necessity and urgency,” but even then judicial authorities must validate the action within forty-eight hours.

As a safeguard against unjustified detentions, “liberty tribunals” (panels of judges) review cases and rule whether continued detention is warranted.[2]  The Constitution and the law provide for restitution in cases of unjust detention.[3]

For more information on Habeas Corpus Rights see:

For more information on Italy see:

Prepared by Constance A. Johnson, Senior Legal Research Analyst and Kersi B. Shroff, Assistant Director of Legal Research Western Law Division

May 2007/ Updated March 2009

  1. Constitution of the Italian Republic, 1948, as amended to 2003, The Italian Republic: Constitution, 9 CONSTITUTIONS OF THE COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD (Oceana Publications, Dec. 2006). [Back to Text]
  2. U.S. Dept. of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Italy, 2006, available at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78819.htm (last visited Jan. 13, 2009). [Back to Text]
  3. For detailed discussions of criminal procedure in Italy, see G.L. CERTOMA, THE ITALIAN LEGAL SYSTEM (1985); V. CIRESE & V. BERTUCCI, THE NEW ITALIAN CRIMINAL PROCEDURE FOR FOREIGN JURISTS (1993); & J. LENA & UGO MATTEI, eds., INTRODUCTION TO ITALIAN LAW (2002). [Back to Text]

Last Updated: 08/01/2012