We are referring to the recent Cassation court sentence number 46070 which was published by press agencies past Novemeber 28th. The sentence concerns the crime of abetting foreigners irregular stay in Italian territory. It particularly refers to renting lodgings to the so called clandestines. Press agencies wrote: “Cassation: renting lodgings to clandestines is not a crime”.
The title of the agency astonished us, infact renting lodgings to “clandestines”, nor hotel rooms or chambers, has never been a crime. Law doesn’t provide for that house or hotel holders have to ask for residence papers when renting a room or a flat, they only need to ask for a valid document, this is to say teh passport. House leasers only need to give a hospitality declaration in which doesn’t need to refer to reseidence papers.
Law has always stated this and it remained unchanged by Bossi-Fini law.
Bossi-Fini law has only changed one point: sanctions. People hosting migrants and not referring the fact to qualified authorities is being sanctioned. Immigration consolidated act art. 7 states that “anyone who has migrants lodged in his/her estates in Italian territory – either because of employment, rent or other – must refer of the this within 48 hours from the beginning of the fact to appointed authorities. The written communication – as underlined in article 7 paragraph 2 – must refer of the interested people identities, of i.d. or passports numbers, of the location of the lodging.”
This is what law states!
Nowhere it is said that residence papers must also be shown. People renting lodgings (flats, houses, hotel rooms) have no right to ask to see residence papers.
The only change introduced by Bossi-Fini law concerns sanctions. People avoiding to refer of migrants given hospitality are sanctioned, they must pay a 160 to 1.100 euros fine. This is why we were astonished by the press agency title. Renting lodgings to clandestines has never been a crime!
When then reading the Cassation court sentence the reasons of such sentence quickly become self-evident: the court sentenced (sentence number 46070) stated what we’ve been quoting so far. Renting lodgings is not a crime unless rents are exorbitant compared to the ones stipulated with regular citizens this would clearly show that the owner of the place is taking advantage of the person’s situation.
Immigration consolidated act art. 12 paragraph 5 (unchanged by Bossi-Fini law) provides for that anyone who unlawfully wants to earn money (or other) from migrants irregular conditions actually favours their irregular stay (there also are notes and paragraphs that talk about other irregularities that are to be sanctioned). According to consolidated act people behaving this way are sanctioned with an up to four years long detention and with an up to 30.000.000 former liras fine. This quoted hypotesis has nothing to do with the situation of someone hosting or renting lodgings to migrant citizens. Law punishes the ones taking advantage of such situation and asking for extremely raised rents. In fact hosting clandestines is not a crime, exploiting them is.
Example – An agency rents rooms to migrant citizens. Residence papers holders pay 100 euros a moths, “clandestines” pay 500 euros and renters do not declare their hospitality. This situation (the higher rent and not reporting of their stay to qualified authorities) is considered favouring irregular immigration. These citizens are clearly exploited since they have to pay extra money for their stay and the owner of the place earns an unlawful profit.
This behaviour is penally relevant and it is punished via detention and a fine, of coarse this situation is not the same as giving hospitality to foreigners.
Remeber that the most frequent situation of hosting a person without residence papers without referring the fact to authorities is still not a crime.
Lawful hypothesis
Many are the lawful hypothesis we can refer of:
. Freely hosting a person without residence papers: we are not facing exploitation, there is no profit in fact. In case the person giving hospitality doesn’t refer to qualified authorities of the fact, this person is committing a crime but we are facing a mere administrative violation which sanctioned by Consolidated act article 7, a 160 to 1.100 euros fine is to be paid.
. Renting a flat, a room or a hotel room: omitting to report to qualified authorities of the given hospitality leads to the quoted above administrative sanction. No legal proceedings can start off since when a person pays for an equal rent we are not actually facing exploitation.
Cassation court simply reaffirmed this principle despite the fact that many thought that an exstraordinary piece of news was to be released.
We have anyway to underline the fact that in a way we are lucky because a law and some magistrates, who consider it normal that a simple irregularity in administration is administratively sanctioned, do exist.
