The Supreme Court of Cassation, Italy's highest court, on Thursday asked the Court of Justice of the European Union to clarify whether new provisions regarding the detention of asylum seekers during the examination of their request for international protection are in conflict with European and international law.
Specifically, judges of the joint civil sections issued two interlocutory orders requesting the European court to give an urgent ruling on the requirement that asylum seekers from countries that are considered safe pay bail of just under 5,000 euros to avoid being detained while awaiting for the outcome of their application.
The request came during examination of interior ministry appeals against rejections by the court in Catania of detention orders issued for Tunisian asylum seekers in Sicily in application of the provisions of the so-called Cutro migrant decree.
This piece of legislation, drawn up in the wake of the February26, 2023 shipwreck off Cutro in Calabria in which 94 refugees and migrants are known to have died, provided for the detention in border locations of asylum seekers from so-called safe countries of origin for the duration of the asylum procedureunless they paid 4,938 euros in bail.
The provision was contested by Judge Iolanda Apostolico and other judges of the specialized immigration section of Cataniacourt, who rejected orders for asylum seekers from Tunisia to be detained at a new pre-removal facility in the Sicilian port city of Pozzallo on grounds they contravened a 2013 Europeandirective laying down standards for the reception of applicants for international protection.
The decisions drew strong criticism from the government, with Apostolico in particular finding herself at the center of apolitical storm.
Italy currently considers 16 countries or origin to be safe:Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, IvoryCoast, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Morocco, Montenegro, Nigeria, Senegal, Serbia and Tunisia.
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