The applicant, a national of Togo, entered Italy on 13 August 2011, and his application for international protection was rejected. On 19 March 2019, the Prefect of Siracusa issued an expulsion decree, and detention at the Pre-Repatriation Centre (Centro di Permanenza per il Rimpatrio, CPR) of Caltanissetta was ordered. He subsequently filed a further application for international protection, which the Territorial Commission of Siracusa declared inadmissible on 24 November 2022. The Tribunal of Caltanissetta rejected his request to suspend the effect of the negative decision. On 25 February 2025, the Quaestor of Siracusa issued a detention order, validated by the Justice of the Peace of Caltanissetta on 28 February 2025. On 24 March 2025, the Prefect issued another expulsion order requiring the applicant to leave Italy within seven days. The applicant was hospitalized on 29 April 2025 with a diagnosis of chronic sialoadenitis and underwent a complete submandibular sialoadenectomy, involving total removal of the gland and surrounding tissues. The Justice of the Peace extended his detention on 22 May 2025. On 27 May 2025, he was transferred to the CPR of Gjader, Albania, where he filed an appeal against his detention before the Justice of the Peace of Rome. He claimed that the detention was incompatible with his health condition due to his vulnerability.

The Justice of the Peace noted that the request for a re-examination of the detention order was admissible and well founded. She recalled that entry into a CPR is contingent upon an assessment of fitness for life in a restricted community, as required by Article 3 of the Ministerial Decree of 19 May 2022. A National Health Service doctor must evaluate the individual's health compatibility with detention, considering physical and mental fitness as well as any vulnerabilities outlined in Article 17 of Legislative Decree 142/15. Upon admission, the individual undergoes medical screening by the centre’s healthcare provider to assess overall health, identify vulnerabilities or unfitness for detention given the facility’s conditions, and determine the need for specialist consultations or diagnostic and therapeutic care at appropriate public health facilities. The Justice of the Peace affirmed that the assessment of suitability must be both absolute and specifically related to the conditions of the facility where the individual is detained.

In the present case, the Justice of the Peace noted that the applicant’s medical records indicated signs of mental distress requiring continuous monitoring and reassessment of fitness by the psychiatric service of the Local Health Authority, in accordance with Article 3(4) of the Ministerial Decree of 19 May 2022. She ruled that, based on the case files, no new suitability assessment for detention by a public health facility had been conducted since 28 February 2025, prior to the applicant’s surgery and transfer to the Gjader centre. The Justice of the Peace found this to be a clear violation of detention regulations concerning the fundamental right to health. Furthermore, according to the Justice of the Peace, this non-compliance was aggravated by the fact that the Gjader centre is located in a third country without an Italian National Health Service presence, relying solely on limited cooperation from Albanian authorities to provide essential medical care to detainees, as stipulated in Article 4(8) of the Italy-Albania Protocol. Consequently, the Justice of the Peace upheld the appeal and ordered the cessation of the detention measure.

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