Probation in Italy: Legal culture and justice models

Authors

Keywords:

Probation, restorative justice, ‘messa alla prova’, libertad probatoria, justicia restaurativa

Abstract

Quite recently, Italian Law 67/2014 extended the messa alla prova scheme to adult defendants, albeit not exactly with the same features as for juvenile ones. There are indeed some important differences: first about the types of offences and about Community Service Work, and also about the use of restorative justice practices. This paper suggests some questions, using the concept of legal culture: 1. the involvement of the various players, because they have varying degrees of power, resources and tools; 2. the probation scheme and its purposes, because it could be useful to re-habilitate, or to restore, or something else; 3. the use of restorative justice, which appears less than widely used, and the engagement of the victims of the crimes admitted to messa alla prova programmes. Legal culture is crucial for messa alla prova, as it benefits from the convergent approach of different views and professions.

Recientemente, la ley italiana 67/2014 extendió el esquema de messa alla prova a todos los acusados adultos, si bien no exactamente con las mismas características que para los acusados menores. De hecho, hay algunas diferencias importantes: primero, en relación con los tipos de delito y el trabajo comunitario, y también en relación con el uso de prácticas de justicia restaurativa. Este artículo sugiere algunos temas utilizando el concepto de cultura jurídica: 1, la implicación de varias partes, porque tienen distintos grados de poder, recursos y herramientas; 2. la libertad condicional y sus objetivos, porque podría ser útil para rehabilitar, para restaurar, o para algún otro fin; 3. el uso de la justicia restaurativa, que parece ser poco utilizada, y la implicación de las víctimas de los crímenes admitidos en el programa de messa alla prova. La cultura jurídica es esencial para la messa alla prova, porque se beneficia del enfoque convergente de distintas visiones y profesiones.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1301

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Author Biography

Chiara Scivoletto, University of Parma

I’m full professor of Sociology of law, deviance and social change (SPS/12) at the Department of Law of the University of Parma, where I teach Sociology of deviance, Sociology of law and Criminology. Since 2018 I was appointed the Chair of the Interdepartmental Research Center (CIRS,) of the same University. Contact details: Department of Law, Politics and International Studies, University of Parma. Via Università, 12 - 43121 Parma, Italy. Email chiara.scivoletto@unipr.it

Published

30-03-2022 — Updated on 01-12-2022

How to Cite

Scivoletto, C. (2022) “Probation in Italy: Legal culture and justice models”, Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 12(6), pp. 1442–1462. Available at: https://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/1433 (Accessed: 29 March 2024).

Issue

Section

Facts within legal culture