We would like to draw our readers’ attention to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of 9 April 2026, in which Italy was condemned for the detention of an unaccompanied foreign minor in a reception centre for adults. The ruling is accompanied by a commentary by Professor Gian Luigi Gatta published on Sistema Penale.

European Court of Human Rights, First Section, H.D. v. Italy, 9 April 2026 · Application no. 41645/23

Summary of the case

H.D., a Burkinabè national born on 1 January 2006, arrived in Italy on 24 June 2023 as an unaccompanied foreign minor (UFM). Upon disembarkation, he was immediately placed in the Sant’Anna C.A.R.A. Regional Hub in Isola di Capo Rizzuto (Crotone), a centre for adults and asylum seekers, where he was held de facto for approximately five months in overcrowded conditions, lacking facilities suitable for minors and without any separation from adult residents. He was never provided with any reasons for his detention, either in writing or orally.

In its judgment of 9 April 2026, the ECtHR found the following violations of the Convention:

• Article 5 §§ 1 and 2 – de facto detention without a legal basis and failure to inform him of the reasons for his detention;
• Article 5 § 4 – ineffectiveness of the domestic remedy (application under Article 700 of the Code of Civil Procedure before the Court of Catanzaro, whose hearing took place only four months after filing);
• Article 3 – material and hygienic conditions of the centre, inadequate for a minor;
• Article 13 in conjunction with Article 3 – lack of an effective domestic remedy concerning the reception conditions.

Italy was ordered to pay €6,500 in respect of non-pecuniary damage.

Further analysis

For a legal analysis of the judgment—particularly regarding the classification of the placement as a deprivation of personal liberty, the structural shortcomings of the remedy under Article 700 of the Code of Civil Procedure in light of Article 5 § 4 ECHR, and its place within the case law concerning unaccompanied minors held in facilities for adults—please refer to the commentary by Professor Gian Luigi Gatta: https://www.sistemapenale.it/it/scheda/la-corte-edu-condanna-litalia-per-la-detenzione-di-un-minore-non-accompagnato-in-un-centro-per-stranieri-adulti-e-per-il-ritardo-del-rimedio-ex-art-700-cpc