The Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration (ASGI) and Cittadinanzattiva APS brought an action before the Lazio Regional Administrative Court challenging the Decree of the Minister of the Interior of 4 March 2024, which approved the tender specifications for the management and operation of Repatriation Detention Centres (CPRs). The associations contested the provisions on healthcare assistance and medical staffing, arguing that the specifications failed to ensure adequate protection for detainees, particularly those with psychiatric vulnerabilities or receiving pharmacological treatment. They claimed that the framework was structurally inadequate, citing the insufficient number of hours assigned to medical staff, the absence of clear procedures for initial assessment and ongoing multidisciplinary monitoring, the lack of an anti-suicide plan and protocols for responding to self-harm, the inadequate training and specialised competencies required of personnel, and the delegation of essential health-care responsibilities to private operators whose profit-oriented management could lead to uneven and insufficient standards of protection. The court rejected the claims as unfounded, holding that the specifications complied with domestic and international standards, were proportionate to the nature of CPR detention, and fell within the scope of ministerial discretion. The associations subsequently appealed the judgment before the Council of State. Their objections focused on Article 2(c) (as supplemented by Annex 5-bis) and Article 5 (as supplemented by Annex A – Staff Allocation Table) of the specifications, governing the healthcare service and the staffing within the CPRs.

The Council of State, sitting in judicial capacity (Third Section), upheld the appeal. It acknowledged that the concerns raised by the associations were reflected in the Summary Report on CPRs, also in light of the monitoring activity carried out by the territorial guarantors under the visiting mandate granted to them by the National Guarantor during the period January–March 2023, issued by the National Guarantor for the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty on 26 April 2023. According to the report, the situation of persons with psychiatric vulnerabilities or undergoing pharmacological treatment in CPRs presents several critical issues. The report found that required assessments of vulnerability and trauma are often not carried out, and entry checks focus only on infectious diseases, overlooking mental-health and chronic conditions. Additionally, coordination with the National Health Service is reportedly weak, leading to poor management of psychiatric care and specialist medications. The report further highlighted that, despite frequent episodes of self-harm, no prevention protocols have been applied. The National Guarantor called for proper suicide-prevention measures, stronger involvement of local health services, and adequate staff training. The council noted that these issues were later confirmed by the Report to the Italian Government on the visit to Italy carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 2 to 12 April 2024, issued by the CPT on 13 December 2024. The report documented the widespread administration of non-prescribed psychotropic drugs, lack of control over medication distribution, superficial and delayed assessments of fitness for CPR detention, inadequate recording of injuries observed at admission or during detention, insufficient psychological and psychiatric care, and the absence of structured protocols for preventing self-harm and suicide. The council stressed that many of the negative situations described in the above reports amount to specific unlawful practices under the current legal framework and therefore do not directly affect the legality of the legislation or of the general administrative acts governing CPR management.

The council referred to the relevant ministerial instrument, the Ministerial Directive of 19 May 2022, “Directive laying down criteria for the organisation of the Repatriation Detention Centres (CPR) pursuant to Article 14 of Legislative Decree 286/1998”, which in Article 3 sets out the medical and vulnerability-assessment requirements applicable upon entry to the CPRs. It affirmed that the directive itself was not challenged in the proceedings. Accordingly, the council could only examine whether the tender specifications were consistent with the 2022 ministerial directive, and the manner in which the administration exercised its discretion within the scope left open by the legislation and the directive. The council noted that certain inconsistencies between the tender specifications and the 2022 ministerial directive, corresponding substantially to the shortcomings identified by the associations in the appeal, had also been criticised by the National Guarantor for the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty in a letter to the Minister of the Interior dated 11 June 2024.

The council held that the contested tender specifications must be revised to comply more closely with the following provisions of the 2022 ministerial directive:

• Article 3(4), requiring a new assessment by the Local Health Authority (ASL) whenever circumstances arise that may render detention in a closed community incompatible, and allowing for placement in observation rooms on medical instruction;
• Article 3(6), recognising the foreign national’s right to obtain a copy of their medical record at any time;
• Article 3(7), requiring that the files transmitted to the judicial authority and to the Territorial Commission for International Protection also include the reports issued by the socio-health service;
• Article 4(2)(p), requiring the keeping of a register recording episodes of self-harm and suicide attempts, as well as interviews with legal information services and social and psychological support.

The council further clarified that the entities operating the CPRs are required to comply with the ministerial directive even where its provisions are not expressly reproduced in the tender specifications.

The council also found that the Ministry had not carried out an adequate investigation before approving the tender specifications. It noted that Article 12(2) of Legislative Decree 142/2015 requires that the draft specifications be examined by the National Coordination Table, a multi-agency body responsible for providing technical input on reception and healthcare matters. The Table includes representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, the Regions, the Union of Italian Provinces (UPI), and the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI), and may also include UNHCR, the Minister for Equal Opportunities, the National Asylum Commission, and other administrations depending on the subject matter. Moreover, the council held that the Ministry should also have sought contributions from the Ministry of Health and the National Guarantor for the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty, whose involvement was necessary to ensure an informed and lawful decision-making process.

The council stressed that the need for a particularly thorough investigation was even more compelling in light of the legislative gap identified by the Constitutional Court in its judgment in Justice of the Peace of Rome (96/2025, 9 June 2025). In that decision, the Constitutional Court held that the legislature had not fulfilled its positive obligation to regulate, through primary legislation, the “methods” by which personal liberty may be restricted, thereby failing to ensure the protection required by the absolute statutory reserve under Article 13(2) of the Constitution. According to the council, the violation of the statutory-reserve requirement must be compensated, at least in part, through the involvement of the institutions responsible for safeguarding health and, more broadly, for protecting persons in detention. It further clarified that, pending the necessary legislative intervention, the competent administrations must undertake a careful assessment of the factual conditions within the CPRs, so that the redrafting of the contested provisions of the specifications may incorporate all relevant elements and ensure socio-healthcare standards consistent with constitutional and international obligations. For these reasons, the council partially annulled the decree of the Minister of the Interior of 4 March 2024.