Decree (validation of the detention of an applicant, Article 6(2) of Legislative Decree 142/2015) · N.R.G. 9726/2026
Unofficial translation of the SOS Patto summary. The original decision or document is available in Italian only.
Headnote
After Decree-Law 100/2026, validation of the detention of an applicant for international protection lies with the specialised section of the tribunal in whose district the centre where the person is detained is located, not with that of the place where the Questore who adopted the measure has his seat: Article 14 of Decree-Law 100/2026 inserted into Article 3(1) of Decree-Law 13/2017 point (c-bis) on validation proceedings and repealed Article 5-bis of the same decree, which vested jurisdiction in the court of appeal of the Questore's district. The criterion of Article 4(3) of Decree-Law 13/2017 — the place where the appellant is detained — also applies to validations: the word «appellants» is a linguistic imprecision that does not limit the general scope of the paragraph. Lack of jurisdiction is dispositive of the merits: the detention ordered by the Questore of Bologna at the CPR of Bari-Palese is not validated and immediate release is ordered.
Ten days after the entry into force of Decree-Law 100/2026, the Tribunal of Bologna (judge Chiara Zito) disposes of a request for validation of detention without touching the merits: the competent judge is no longer that of the place where the Questore has his seat, but that of the place where the centre is located.
A Chilean national is served on 17 June 2026 with the expulsion decree of the Prefect of Bologna and the order for immediate escort to the border. On 19 June he makes an application for international protection and, on the same day, the Questore of Bologna orders his detention under Article 6(2)(c) and (d) of Legislative Decree 142/2015 at the CPR of Bari-Palese. The request for validation reaches the Tribunal of Bologna in good time, within 48 hours.
The Tribunal raises of its own motion its lack of jurisdiction in favour of the specialised section of the Tribunal of Bari, on the basis of two insertions made by Decree-Law 100/2026 into Decree-Law 13/2017: Article 14(1)(a), no. 1, added to Article 3(1) point (c-bis), which assigns to the specialised sections the proceedings for validating the detention of an applicant for international protection; Article 14(1)(b) repealed Article 5-bis, which provided for the jurisdiction of the court of appeal «in whose district the Questore who adopted the measure subject to validation has his seat».
With the special rule gone, the general rule of Article 4(3) of Decree-Law 13/2017 remains: for appellants detained or accommodated in a centre, the specialised section of the place where the centre is located is competent. To the objection that that paragraph speaks of appellants, whereas in validation the detainee does not appeal, the decree answers that
the reference to the word «appellants» contained in paragraph 3 of Article 4 is to be interpreted as a linguistic imprecision, the general scope of the paragraph being beyond question since, unlike paragraphs 2 and 2-bis, it does not delimit its own field of application, being conversely applicable, by express provision, to (all) the cases in paragraph 1 and, therefore, also to the newly introduced point (c-bis).
The judge does not merely declare a lack of jurisdiction and remit the file: he regards the point as «dispositive of the aspects going to the merits» and accordingly does not validate the measure, ordering immediate release unless the person is detained on another ground. Validation must take place within the mandatory time limit of 48 hours by a competent judge, and a request addressed to the wrong office does not suspend that time limit.
On the allocation between specialised sections and the Justice of the Peace see Cass. n. 24431/2026; this decision adds the territorial piece, that is, which specialised section.
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