Decision of the Court of Cassation, I Criminal Section, No. 4772 of 15 January 2013

In its judgment of 8 January 2013 (Torreggiani et al. v. Italy), the European Court of Human Rights stated, inter alia, that Italy must provide an adequate, prompt, and effective remedy to indemnify persons in prisons whose fundamental rights have been violated. Under existing legislation, the matter is not within the competence of the surveillance judges, but of the civil courts; for the Court of cassation, this circumstance is not contrary per se to the European Convention on Human Rights, nor a change in said division of competences derives, automatically, from the European Court of Human Rights’ jurisprudence; the principles affirmed in the Torreggiani case must be implemented, rather, by modifying the existing national remedies, or introducing further ones.