An applicant attempted to lodge an application for the issuance of a residence permit for special protection, and made his request before the Questura of Bologna in order to formalise his application after a period of detention. Since the applicant was lacking a passport, the Questura did not formalise the application. Because he risked being deported from Italy, the applicant required a passport to the consulate and a certification attesting his identity. The consulate rejected the last request and stated that the issuance of a passport will take several months.

The applicant submitted an appeal against the Questura of Bologna, arguing that for the application of special protection the passport is not mandatory, and recalled the Article 9 of Presidential Decree (DPR) no. 394/1999 and ex Article 32 of the Legislative Decree no. 25/2008. The applicant also highlighted that he would be at risk of losing access to fundamental rights such as healthcare, right of movement and labour integration. The applicant mentioned that he started an internship during the detention period and the employer was willing to offer a job contract, but without any documentation provided by the Questura to attest his application for special protection, he was at risk of losing his current job and of being exposed to poverty. The applicant underlined that he was actually invited by the Questura to regularise his status on the national territory after the detention, and since the invitation was sent at the end of a period of detention, the Questura could not have doubts about his identity. 

The Questura of Bologna shared an informative note and claimed that the appeal was lacking valid motivation, that the application for special protection must be rejected as  inadmissible due to the failure to submit a passport.

The Tribunal of Bologna allowed the appeal and determined the right of the applicant to lodge an application for special protection without having a passport, within the meaning of Article 19 of Legislative Decree no. 286/1998 and according to Article 10 of the Constitution. 

The tribunal ruled that the applicant is not required to submit the passport or any document while lodging a request for residence permit for special protection. The tribunal stated that such application has to be presented to the Questura which has to formalise and register it even in the absence of the submission of a passport or an equivalent document. The situation is identical as in the case of an application for special protection submitted to the Territorial Commission.

Additionally, the tribunal mentioned that the Questura was aware of the identity of the applicant since his period of detention, during which the applicant started social and labour integration in the territory. 

The Tribunal of Bologna also specified that since the application for the issuance of a residence permit for special protection has been tentatively presented to the Questura before the recent amendments introduced by the Legislative Decree no. 20/2023, the legal framework  applicable for this case has to be considered the one in force before the amendment. 

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