7.  The applicant was born in 1938 and lives in Italy. 8.  The applicant was placed in detention on 23 December 1993. 9.  Several sets of criminal proceedings were brought against him, as a result of which he was sentenced to terms of imprisonment for, among other offences, membership of a mafia-type criminal organisation, drug trafficking and illegal possession of firearms. On 27 December 2001 the public prosecutor at the Milan Court of Appeal ordered that the applicant’s sentences be aggregated and fixed the overall term at thirty years. 10.  The applicant was detained in several Italian prisons (including Palermo, Catania, Pisa and Naples). 11.  On 10 August 1994, in view of the danger posed by the applicant, the Minister of Justice issued a decree ordering that he be subject for one year to the special prison regime provided for in the second paragraph of section 41 bis of the Prison Administration Act (“Law no. 354 of 1975”). This provision, which was amended by Law no. 279 of 23 December 2002 (“Law no. 279 of 2002”), allows application of the ordinary prison regime to be suspended in whole or in part for reasons of public order and safety.
The 1994 decree imposed the following restrictions:
–  restrictions on visits by family members (a maximum of a single one‑hour visit per month);
–  no meetings with non-family members;
–  prohibition on using the telephone;
–  no sums of money above a fixed amount to be received or sent out;
–  no more than two parcels to be received per month, but permission to receive two parcels per year containing clothing and linen;
–  ban on organising cultural, recreational or sports activities;
–  no right to vote in elections for prisoners’ representatives or to be elected as a representative;
–  no handicraft activities;
–  no food requiring cooking to be purchased;
–  no more than two hours’ outdoor exercise per day. 12.  In addition, all the applicant’s correspondence was to be monitored, subject to prior authorisation by the judicial authority. 13.  The application of the special regime was subsequently extended on nineteen occasions for successive periods of one year or six months.
Each decree covered a limited period, as follows:
10 August 1994 – 9 August 1995 (decree no. 1)
5 August 1995 – 5 February 1996 (decree no. 2)
2 February 1996 – 2 August 1996 (decree no. 3)
31 July 1996 – 31 January 1997 (decree no. 4)
4 February 1997 – 4 August 1997 (decree no. 5)
31 July 1997 – 31 January 1998 (decree no. 6)
4 February 1998 – 4 August 1998 (decree no. 7)
30 July 1998 – 30 January 1999 (decree no. 8)
27 January 1999 – 27 July 1999 (decree no. 9)
22 July 1999 – 31 December 1999 (decree no. 10)
23 December 1999 – 23 June 2000 (decree no. 11)
22 June 2000 – 31 December 2000 (decree no. 12)
21 December 2000 – 21 June 2001 (decree no. 13)
18 June 2001 – 18 December 2001 (decree no. 14)
13 December 2001 – 13 June 2002 (decree no. 15)
10 June 2002 – 31 December 2002 (decree no. 16)
28 December 2002 – 22 December 2003 (decree no. 17)
23 December 2003 – 23 December 2004 (decree no. 18)
17 December 2004 – 17 December 2005 (decree no. 19). 14.  The applicant appealed against most of these decrees to the Naples court responsible for the execution of sentences. The case file shows that the applicant did not appeal on points of law against the decisions of the latter court. He maintained that the Court of Cassation would in any event have dismissed the appeals on the ground that he no longer had an interest in having them examined since the period of validity of the decrees in question had expired.
–  Decree no. 1
On an unspecified date the applicant appealed against the decree of 10 August 1994. In a decision of 28 February 1995, the court responsible for the execution of sentences dismissed the appeal, taking the view that the application of the special prison regime was justified. However, the restrictions were eased to allow the applicant one hour-long telephone conversation per month with members of his family, in the absence of a visit by the latter; the restriction on the time spent in outdoor exercise and the prohibition on purchasing food requiring cooking were also lifted.
–  Decree no. 3
On 9 February 1996 the applicant appealed against the decree of 2 February 1996. In a decision of 26 March 1996, deposited with its registry on 30 March 1996 and served on the applicant on 30 April 1996, the court responsible for the execution of sentences declared the appeal inadmissible on the ground that, in accordance with the restrictive case-law followed at the time, the court hearing the case did not have the power to examine the merits of the restrictions imposed.
–  Decree no. 5
On 6 February 1997 the applicant appealed against the decree of 4 February 1997 (served the following day). In a decision of 6 May 1997, deposited with the registry on 15 May 1997 and served on the applicant on 21 May 1997, the court, while upholding the application of the special regime, relaxed the restriction on visits by family members in order to allow the applicant two hour-long visits per month.
–  Decree no. 6
On 4 August 1997 the applicant appealed against the decree of 31 July 1997 (served on 2 August 1997). In a decision of 16 October 1997, deposited with the registry on 22 October 1997 and served on the applicant on 24 October 1997, the court responsible for the execution of sentences, while upholding the application of the special regime, lifted the restriction on the number of visits by family members.
–  Decree no. 7
On 9 February 1998 the applicant appealed against the decree of 4 February 1998. In a decision of 2 July 1998, deposited with the registry on 9 July 1998 and served on the applicant on 12 August 1998, the court responsible for the execution of sentences dismissed the appeal on the ground that the restrictions imposed on the applicant were justified.
–  Decree no. 8
On 3 August 1998 the applicant appealed against the decree of 30 July 1998 (served the following day). In a decision of 30 November 1998, deposited with the registry on 9 December 1998 and served on the applicant on 23 December 1998, the court responsible for the execution of sentences dismissed the appeal on the ground that the restrictions imposed on the applicant were justified.
–  Decree no. 9
On 1 February 1999 the applicant appealed against the decree of 27 January 1999. In a decision of 7 October 1999, deposited with the registry on 20 October 1999 and served on the applicant on an unspecified date, the court responsible for the execution of sentences declared the appeal inadmissible. It observed that the period of validity of the decree had expired on 27 July 1999 and that, accordingly, the applicant no longer had an interest in having it examined.
–  Decree no. 10
On 27 July 1999 the applicant appealed against the decree of 22 July 1999 (served on 24 July 1999). The Court has not been informed of the outcome of this appeal.
–  Decree no. 11
On 28 December 1999 the applicant appealed against the decree of 23 December 1999. In a decision of 11 May 2000, deposited with the registry on 23 May 2000 and served on the applicant on 21 July 2000, the court responsible for the execution of sentences declared the appeal inadmissible as the applicant had declared his intention not to pursue it.
–  Decree no. 12
On 26 June 2000 the applicant appealed against the decree of 22 June 2000 (served on 23 June 2000). In a decision of 6 November 2001, the court responsible for the execution of sentences dismissed the appeal on the ground that the validity of the impugned decree had expired.
–  Decree no. 13
On an unspecified date the applicant appealed against the decree of 21 December 2000. In a decision of 23 April 2001, deposited with the registry on 3 May 2001, the court responsible for the execution of sentences dismissed the appeal as unsubstantiated.
–  Decree no. 14
On 21 June 2001 the applicant appealed against the decree of 18 June 2001 (served on 20 June 2001). In a decision of 14 November 2001, the court responsible for the execution of sentences dismissed the appeal on the ground that application of the special prison regime was justified in view of the danger posed by the applicant and his links with criminal circles.
–  Decree no. 15
On 17 December 2001 the applicant appealed against the decree of 13 December 2001 (served on 14 December 2001). In a decision of 11 April 2002, the court responsible for the execution of sentences dismissed the appeal as unsubstantiated.
–  Decree no. 17
On an unspecified date the applicant appealed against the decree of 28 December 2002. He requested the court responsible for the execution of sentences to seek a review by the Constitutional Court of the compatibility of paragraph 2 bis of section 41 bis (as amended by Law no. 279 of 2002) with several Articles of the Constitution.
In a decision of 3 March 2003, served on the applicant on 8 April 2003, the court responsible for the execution of sentences ordered that the file be transmitted to the Constitutional Court. The decision was taken on the ground that, in so far as Law no. 279 of 2002 did not require the Minister of Justice to give reasons for the decrees, an issue of constitutionality could arise. The court observed in particular that in the instant case the applicant had been subject to the special prison regime since 1994 and that the reasons given for the decrees extending application of the regime related to ongoing links between the applicant and the criminal organisation to which he belonged, notwithstanding the fact that he was subject to the special regime.
By decision no. 417 of 13 December 2004, deposited with the registry on 23 December 2004, the Constitutional Court dismissed the objection as to constitutionality raised by the court responsible for the execution of sentences, finding that it was manifestly ill-founded.
–  Decree no. 18
On an unspecified date the applicant appealed against the decree of 23 December 2003. He argued that the special regime was hindering his rehabilitation, in breach of Article 27 of the Constitution, and that it failed to respect the needs of his personality, contrary to section 13 of Law no. 354 of 1975.
In a decision of 19 November 2004, deposited with the registry on 15 December 2004, the court responsible for the execution of sentences dismissed the appeal on the basis of the police investigations, on the ground that application of the special regime was justified on account of the applicant’s links to organised crime.
–  Decree no. 19
On 23 December 2004 the applicant appealed against the decree of 17 December 2004. In a decision of 11 February 2005, deposited with the registry on 28 February 2005, the court responsible for the execution of sentences allowed the applicant’s appeal. It took the view that the security considerations which had been the reason for applying the special prison regime were no longer valid; it therefore ordered the measure in question to be rescinded. 15.  On 1 March 2005 the prison authorities placed the applicant in a high-supervision (“E.I.V.”) unit. 16.  On 24 April 2008 the Naples judge responsible for the execution of sentences, on a provisional basis and pending the decision of the court responsible for the execution of sentences, ordered a stay of execution of the applicant’s sentence and his release in order to undergo urgent surgery. This decision was upheld on 2 October 2008 by the Naples court responsible for the execution of sentences. 17.  The applicant suffers from a number of disorders which oblige him to use a wheelchair. From June 2000 to February 2005 he served his sentence in the part of the hospital wing of Naples Prison (Secondigliano) reserved for prisoners detained under the section 41 bis regime. 18.  On an unspecified date the applicant applied to the Naples court responsible for the execution of sentences for a stay of execution of his sentence on health grounds, under Articles 146 and 147 of the Criminal Code. In a decision of 18 January 2001, the court responsible for the execution of sentences, basing its decision on a report drawn up by the prison medical team, rejected the application on the ground that the applicant was being held in the prison’s hospital wing and was receiving treatment appropriate to his state of health. 19.  On an unspecified date the applicant made a fresh application to the judge responsible for the execution of sentences for a stay of execution of his sentence on health grounds. In a decision of 22 March 2002, the judge rejected the application on the ground that the applicant’s state of health was not incompatible with detention in the prison hospital wing. On 2 July 2002 the Naples court responsible for the execution of sentences upheld that decision. 20.  In February 2007, after authorisation had been obtained from the court responsible for the execution of sentences, the applicant was taken to a Naples civil hospital for an operation to remove a kidney. 21.  On 24 April 2008 the Naples judge responsible for the execution of sentences provisionally stayed execution of the applicant’s sentence and ordered his release in order to undergo urgent surgery (see paragraph 16 above). 22.  According to the information provided to the Court by the parties, the Naples court responsible for the execution of sentences ordered a stay of execution of the applicant’s sentence on 2 October 2008 on account of his state of health. The applicant had had an operation to remove one of two brain tumours on 3 September 2008 and his state of health was found to be incompatible with detention. The court placed him under house arrest for a period of six months, prohibiting contact with any persons other than family members and medical personnel. The court’s decision to place the applicant under house arrest was based on the applicant’s criminal personality and the length of his sentence and on a note from the Palermo police authorities dated 16 April 2008. 23.  The Court has not been informed of the applicant’s current state of health. 24.  On 10 August 1994 the Minister of Justice issued the first decree subjecting the applicant to the special prison regime and ordered the monitoring of all his correspondence, subject to prior authorisation by the judicial authority (see paragraphs 11 and 12 above). 25.  The corresponding decisions of the Naples court responsible for the execution of sentences communicated to the Court relate to the period between 2 July 1996 and 7 July 2004. The first decisions imposed the measure in relation to all correspondence for an unspecified period. On 3 August 1999 the judge responsible for the execution of sentences fixed the maximum period at six months and ordered that the applicant’s correspondence with the European Court of Human Rights, in particular, should not be monitored. 26.  The applicant furnished a copy of an undated letter and an envelope, both addressed to his lawyer, Mr Vetrano, the latter postmarked 3 March 2000. Both documents had been inspected by the prison authorities, but the corresponding stamps were not dated. 27.  On 16 October 1999 the applicant applied to the Milan District Court for prison leave in order to attend his brother’s funeral. On 18 October 1999 the court allowed the application but made the leave subject to whatever detailed arrangements might be laid down by the courts responsible for the execution of sentences. It also ordered that “the other judicial authorities concerned, the public prosecutor’s office and the applicant” be informed of its decision. 28.  The case file shows that the Milan Court of Appeal rejected the applicant’s application on 19 October 1999 on account of the risk that he might abscond. The decision was deposited with the registry on 21 October 1999. 29.  The applicant stated that he had also applied for prison leave to attend his partner’s funeral.