The Constitutional Court decides on the right to affectivity of prisoners. Decisional techniques and substantive solutions in Sentence n. 10/2024

Abstract

The contribution examines the decisional technique employed and the substantive solutions adopted by the Constitutional Court in sentence no. 10/2024, placing the pronouncement in the context of the procedures created by the Court in order to deal with the inertia of the legislator. The subject of the judgement is the «right to affectivity» of prisoners, i.e., the right to hold private visits without any supervision. This right is denied by current legislation, despite the warning expressed by sentence no. 301/2012 and the numerous opportunities the legislator has had in the meantime. With the pronouncement examined, not only has the Constitutional Court recognized the constitutional basis of the right, but also it has punctually established both its guarantees and its limits: through a stringent additive sentence, the Court itself has dictated «rules» suitable for immediate application by judicial and administrative authorities