Finally good pieces of news come!
Constitutional court is to declare forced administrative expulsions unlawful.
We have been long waiting for this piece of news and it finally seems to be arriving.
Constitutional court judges substantially agreed with the judges in Rome and in Parma. These judges asked Constitutional court to express themselves on the constitutionality of forced expulsions, which would, according to them be a strong limitation to individual freedom as provided for by Italian Constitution art. 13.
The same two judges believe that the fact that juridical authorities confirm expulsion orders within 48 hours they were established is a mere formal evaluation and not a real one. Constitutional court also underlined that this confirmation can come when expulsion had already occurred.
We asked Roberto Malesani, legal advisor of the Coordinamento immigrati in Verona, to comment upon this piece of news.
Question: What do you think of this piece of news, which we have been long waiting for and has been recently published on papers?
Answer: It seriously is a good piece of news. We have been longing to have Constitutional court opinion. Court substantially considers the rule on forced repatriations, enforced by Bossi-Fini law, unlawful. Forced repatriations allow migrants to appeal against them but they are usually repatriated before they can actually appeal to courts.
Today this rules is being considered contradicting the principle of individual freedom and this is why Constitutional courts thought it necessary to take it away from actual immigration law.
Question: What is it to happen?
Answer: Now we make get rid of the problem of expulsions in the sense that many unlawful expulsion won’t anymore occur. Appealing to court will still be possible in case administrations, prefects, police headquarters keep on applying this rule.
Prefectures and police headquarters will now need to adequate and therefore migrants should be more safeguarded. I really hope that they both immediately change their behaviours.
Question: Can we say that this Court’s statement in a way rejects Bossi-Fini set of rules?
Answer: I’d say so, at least when referring to individual freedom and minimal rights. And we should not forget that other sentences are to be soon expressed. For instance, Constitutional court is to evaluate the rule that migrant citizens can be arrested when they do not leave Italy in case of expulsion.
Anyway Bossi-Fini law is still valid and it keeps on rendering migrants’ lives everyday more and more precarious. Residence papers are deeply liked to labour.
I believe that the Court opinion is extremely important, at least some minimal rights are to be somehow safeguarded.