Italy: Tribunal of Ferrara refers to the Constitutional Court on ban preventing Italian municipalities registering applicants of international protection

Date: 
Tuesday, September 24, 2019

On 24 September 2019, the Tribunal of Ferrara referred to the Constitutional Court to determine the legitimacy of procedures preventing applicants in need of international protection from registering as residents in local municipalities.

The applicant arrived in Italy on 6 October 2017. He formalized his asylum application on 23 October 2017 and was therefore entitled to a six month renewable resident permit as an asylum applicant. On 21 February 2019, he requested to be registered as a resident in the Municipality of Ferrara. His request was rejected on the basis that his status as an asylum applicant was not a valid title for registration. On appeal, the Tribunal stressed that registration represents a prerequisite for exercising several fundamental rights, such as the right to education, work, and social security. The Tribunal also noted that the ban affected a particular category of individuals, namely individuals in need of international protection legally residing in Italy.

The Constitutional Court has previously ruled that limitations for foreigners present in the Italian territory may be justified in instances when individuals stay for short and sporadic periods of time.  However, this cannot be considered the case for applicants of international protection who lawfully reside in Italy with a resident permit for a consistent period. In this sense, the Court highlighted that the applicant’s presence in Italian territory is neither temporary nor short-lived. Status as an applicant of international protection is, in fact, a prerequisite of stable recognition with ex ante effects.

The Court concluded that the registration ban for applicants of international protection interferes with the principle of equality enshrined under Article 3 of the Italian Constitution, as well as Article 2 of Protocol No. 4 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, and Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Municipality of Ferrara has therefore been ordered to accept the applicant’s residence request as precautionary measure while the matter is referred to the Constitutional Court.

Thank you to Francesca Zalambani, Legal Assistant at ECRE, for assisting us with the summary. Based on an unofficial translation by the EWLU team.


This item was reproduced with the permission of ECRE from the ELENA Weekly Legal Update. The purpose of these updates is to inform asylum lawyers and legal organizations supporting asylum seekers and refugees of recent developments in the field of asylum law. Please note that the information provided is taken from publicly available information on the internet. Every reasonable effort is made to make the content accurate and up to date at the time each item is pusexblished but no responsibility for its accuracy and correctness, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed by ECRE.

 

 

Keywords: 
Residence document