Since February 2023, the Criminal Justice Legal Clinic has set up a legal counselling service in the San Vittore prison.  

Every week, the Clinic offers legal advice to foreign prisoners who ask for it. The primary aim of this initiative is to provide inmates with essential legal information to help them navigate their criminal proceedings and the execution of their sentences. It also aims to clarify the impact of criminal cases on their legal stay in Italy, addressing issues such as residence permits, expulsion orders, international protection status and related matters.  

The Legal Information Desk involves tutors (Ph.D. students and research fellows) and students of the Faculty of Law enrolled in or having completed the optional course in Criminal Justice Legal Clinic. These participants work with lawyers specialised in Migration Law.  

In addition, students from the University of Milan's bachelor's degree programme in Linguistic and Cultural Mediation participate in the initiative through a training internship, which involves students of Arabic and Spanish languages and cultures. These mediation students play a crucial role in facilitating communication with detainees, who often do not speak Italian.  

In order to be properly trained for their role, all students - from both the law and mediation programmes - complete a specialised training course. The course coaches them to interact with prisoners and to deal with relevant legal issues. The training is given by lawyer Paolo Oddi, a lecturer at the University of Milan, and lawyer Bianca Bonelli, an expert in Criminal and Migration Law. It explores the concept of "crimmigration", the intersection of Criminal and Migration Law, and provides practical solutions to detainees' questions.  

The Legal Information Desk operates every Monday from 9:00 to 13:00 and is usually staffed by three people: a tutor, a law student and a mediation student.

Since June 2024, following a request from prison staff, the Criminal Justice Legal Clinic, in collaboration with the Legal Clinic of Bocconi University, has undertaken an additional initiative aimed at foreign detainees, which consists in organising a series of workshops on the basic principles of criminal procedure and the enforcement of sentences.  

Every two months, a training course of three sessions of 2 hours each is offered to interested foreign prisoners. These sessions cover topics such as precautionary measures, trial and enforcement procedures. Prisoners are grouped by language (e.g. Arabic, Spanish, English), with interpreters providing translation, and they receive a certificate of attendance upon completion of the course.

Thanks to the dedication of the lawyers, tutors, and students working at the help desk, the handbook “FOREIGN INMATES: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS” is updated every year.

The handbook provides answers to the questions most frequently asked by the users of the Desk: Who is entitled to a residence permit? In which cases can the permit be renewed, and when is it revoked? How do expulsions work? How does a criminal conviction affect the possibility of legally residing in Italy? How can a foreign national obtain citizenship?

This updated edition of the handbook – available in Italian, Arabic, and Spanish – is designed to be an easy-to-use tool. It is intended both for foreign nationals who find themselves dealing with complex legal issues (whether during detention or upon release), and for the various categories of professionals and volunteers who must navigate a legal framework that is often complex and confusing.

Click here to read the Italian version of the handbook.

Click here to read the Arabic version of the handbook.

Click here to read the Spanish version of the handbook.