UK Prisoners in Italy: Information for Families and Friends

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1 UK Prisoners in Italy: Information for Families and Friends Author British Embassy, Rome British Consulate-General, Milan Date Updated: 24 February

2 Introduction pag. 3 Information for friends and relatives pag. 3 Consular representatives in Italy General prison conditions The prison Visits Sending money Mail/parcels Telephone calls Legal assistance Legal aid Transfer to the UK Prisoners Abroad pag.3 pag.4 pag.4 pag.4 pag.5 pag.7 pag.7 pag.7 pag.7 pag.8 pag.8 2

3 Introduction The FCO is represented overseas by its Embassies and Consulates (High Commission in Commonwealth Countries). Both employ consular officers, and one of their duties is to provide help and advice to any British National who gets into difficulty in a foreign country. Who are the Consular Representatives in Italy? British Embassy, Rome: Geraldine Williams, Vice Consul Vittoria Dominijanni, Pro Consul Caterina Liotto, Pro Consul Silvia Muscolino, Pro Consul Contact Information: British Embassy Rome Via XX Settembre 80/a Roma Italy Tel: (+39) Fax: (+39) british-embassy-rome Our working hours are from 9.00 to hours Monday to Friday (Italian time) British Consulate-General, Milan: Caroline Ingham, Vice Consul Maxine Cristiano, Pro Consul Marcello Marconi, Pro Consul Contact Information: British Consulate-General, Milan Via San Paolo Milano Italy Tel: (+39) Fax: (+39) british-embassy-rome Our working hours are from 9.00 to hours Monday to Friday (Italian time) Information for friends and relatives Having a loved one in prison overseas is traumatic and we will do our best to help you and provide you with answers in case you have any questions. For reasons of confidentiality, however, we must receive authorisation from the prisoner before we release any information to you, including confirmation that they have been detained and their whereabouts. In addition, we aim to have only one point of contact and will follow the detainee s instructions on this matter. We are impartial; we are not here to judge. We aim to make sure that British Nationals who are detained in Italy are treated properly and fairly in accordance with local regulations, and no less favourably than other prisoners. We cannot get your next of kin or your friends out of prison, pay fines or stand bail. We cannot interfere with local judicial procedures nor secure them an earlier trial date. We cannot investigate a crime. We can give you advice on prison procedure, regulations and keep you informed on his or her morale and welfare. We can also pass on any messages from you. 3

4 General prison conditions Italian prisons suffer from chronic over-crowding. The number of inmates to each cell entirely depends on the size of the cell and the number of prisoners in the particular prison. There are usually 3 to 6 prisoners in a cell. Women s prisons are separate to the men s. The Prison There are over 200 prisons in Italy, which have different names, depending on their structure and type of prisoners hosted. Some of them may also have different specific internal rules. The Italian Ministry of Justice website (in Italian) offers detailed informative notes on all of them. You may select the name of the facility from the dropdown menu below: Visits Visit permits for families and friends are normally arranged by the lawyer of the detainee. PLEASE NOTE that authorisation from the prison or the magistrate (depending on legal status of the detainee) must be granted before you make plans to visit. You can contact the Consulate/Embassy if you are experiencing difficulties in organising authorisation via the lawyer. You should be aware that both family and friends will need to provide evidence of relationship with the detainee (marriage certificate/joint bank accounts / legal declaration / joint telephone bills etc). Before any visit the prisoner is requested to file an application to the Ufficio Matricola (Registry Office) for permission to see a visitor. Name and passport details of the visitor must be provided. Only the person authorised for the visit will be admitted. Visiting days and times can vary from prison to prison, and on the type of crime committed. A prisoner is allowed to have four visits per month classified as normal; two other bonus visits are possible when the prisoner has no negative reports for the preceding month. Normally a visit will last for one hour but in the case of foreigners where the family has arrived from abroad, application can be made for exceptional extended visits of 2 to 3 hours, but this decision rests with the Prison Governor. Visits take place in dedicated halls, and are under visual, not auditory monitoring by the penitentiary police staff: during visiting hours, all prisoners must behave correctly; if not, future visits may not be permitted. Visitors can bring prison comforts. All bags and parcels will be searched before entry and authorities have the right to withhold items they deem to be unacceptable. Rules can vary on what goods are permitted. Please contact the detainee s lawyer in the first instance for information on the prison s rules. 4

5 Sending money The Foreign and Commonwealth Office operates a service which allows you to pay funds to us in the UK which we will pay out in local currency to the above overseas. Under the Consular Fees Order of 2013/2014, we are obliged to charge for this service. The fee is dependent on the amount that you wish to transfer as follows: Amount being sent Fee One monthly payment up to 100 Free Each additional payment or amount of Each additional payment or amount of Each additional payment or amount of 500 and 80 above When forwarding funds, you should add the above fee to the amount that you wish to transfer. For example, if you want the recipient to receive 150, you will need to send us 160 ( 150 to forward plus 10 fee). If other friends and family also plan to transfer funds in the same month, you should consider coordinating payments so you know what FCO fees to expect. We retain the right to further deduct any local overseas charges we may incur in passing the fees to the recipient. Should we be unable to pay the funds locally to the recipient, our policy is to refund amounts above 5 to the depositor by bank transfer. In this case, we would contact you for your bank details. Refunds may take several weeks as our internal processes can only start once all relevant costs have been cleared with local authorities. 5

6 OPTIONS TO TRANSFER FUNDS TO BRITISH NATIONALS OVERSEAS VIA THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE Please note that we can only advance funds to the person overseas once your payment has cleared in our account. 1. Electronic Bank transfers Payment by electronic/internet bank transfer can be made either using online or telephone banking, or at your local bank or building society. For all bank transfers, you will need to include the following details: Bank: National Westminster Bank Account Name: FCO Multi Vote Sort Code: Account Number: Reference: FCO case reference number (which can be found at the top of the attached ), surname and first name of the person you are sending the funds for, plus country name if possible, e.g. 11-THB SMITH JOE - THAILAND or CON-1234 SMITH JOE THAILAND IBAN SWIFT/BIC GB56NWBK NWBKGB2L You may also need our bank address which is: London Corporate Service Centre, CPB Services, 2nd Floor, 280 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 4RB. 2. By Post Payments by Postal Order, Bankers Draft, Building Society Cheque or personal cheque should be crossed and made payable to The Foreign and Commonwealth Office. They should be sent to: Accounts Receivable Foreign and Commonwealth Office Corporate Service Centre PO Box 6108 Milton Keynes MK10 1PX We recommend that you use Special Delivery. Please ensure that you include a note briefly explaining who the money is for, why you are sending these funds and quoting the FCO case reference number. You may wish to use the payment slip on the next page. If you would like a receipt, please include a stamped addressed envelope. Please note that it can take approximately 15 days for personal cheques to clear and for payment to be received. Please write the cheque guarantee number and expiry date, and the FCO case reference number, on the back of the cheque. We are unable to receive payment by credit or debit card, or by cash. 6

7 Mail/Parcels Prisoners have a right to unlimited correspondence (letters) while under arrest and while serving their sentence. Depending on the accusation, incoming and outgoing mail may be censored. Mail will be subject to examination and delays are to be expected, but this requires a Judge s order and the person concerned is always notified. You can send mail and parcels directly to the prison. The Embassy/Consulate is not able to forward mail on your behalf back to the UK. All parcels are opened and checked by prison staff before they are given to prisoners. As a general rule a prisoner can receive 4 postal parcels per month (a prison may include in that allowance any packages received during prison visits); and there is a weight limit of 5 kilos per parcel (please note: a book in a padded envelope would be considered a parcel). Some prisons may have flexibility around this allowance so do check with the prison. Prison regulations state that there must be a delay of 15 days between parcels delivered on visits and parcels received by post. Please note that excessive parcels are either returned to the sender, at the prisoner s expense, or kept in the prison s storeroom. Telephone calls In Italy prisoners do not have an automatic right to make a phone call. Telephone call permission must first be obtained from the judge which will cover all future calls, when the prisoner is on remand. Once the sentence is final, the Prison Governor has to approve this request. The prisoner must submit in writing the following documentation: 1) copy of telephone bill of the person who they wish to call (landline only); 2) copy of the passport of the person being called; 3) document proving the relationship to the person being called (eg, marriage certificate, birth certificates) Calls are permitted once a week to one member of the detainee s family, on a land-line number. Mobile phones are not permitted in prison. Legal assistance Once arrested, a lawyer is automatically appointed by the state to assist the prisoner. Legal expenses are charged to the defendant. Private lawyers can be appointed at any time after arrest; a list of English-speaking local lawyers comes with this information sheet. The Embassy/Consulate cannot pay legal fees or guarantee to a lawyer that the bill will be paid by the client. Legal Aid 7

8 Legal aid (patrocinio gratuito) may be available at any stage of the judicial process in penal cases. A defendant may submit a request to the judge to authorise the State to pay his/her lawyer, but only if he/she can prove earnings of less than 10, , per year (around 7, ,000). Please be aware that there is no guarantee that your legal aid lawyer will speak English and their ability may vary. Transfer to the UK With effect from 5 December 2011 all the European Union Member states should have brought into force the EU Prisoner Transfer Agreement (EU PTA). The EU PTA facilitates the compulsory transfer of sentenced prisoners between the EU member states to continue serving a sentence of imprisonment in their home country. Italy is one of the EU countries that have brought this directive into force. The EU PTA will apply to all prisoners sentenced on or after the 5 December 2011 although some states may make it retrospective so it applies to all UK prisoners in another EU Member State no matter when they were sentenced. It will be for the relevant state to determine whether it applies retrospectively. Prisoners Abroad For more than 30 years the charity Prisoners Abroad (PA) has offered practical support and advice to British Citizens imprisoned overseas. It is the only UK charity providing this service and it is available to all. PA is concerned with a prisoner s health and welfare, both during their imprisonment and also on their return to the UK, through their resettlement service (if the prisoner has registered whilst in prison). They can also provide support and advice to the family during imprisonment, should the prisoner wish them to do so. In order to access any PA services, prisoners must first register with PA by signing and returning their authorisation form. The type of assistance they can offer will vary from country to country, but generally they can provide information in English on: Local criminal justice system Prison conditions and prisoner s rights How to obtain magazines, newspapers and books How to find a pen pal Local language Translation of documents Providing a grant for essential medicines and toiletries Information and support to families, including an online network, family linking and regular support groups throughout the UK. Prisoners Abroad Fonthill Road London N4 3JH England Telephone: (0) / UK Freephone (Mondays to Friday 09:30-16:30) 8

9 Website: Further information on organisations offering support to friends and families in the UK are available at the link below: Other charities in Italy (in Italian): Disclaimer This booklet was compiled by the Consular Section, British Embassy Rome and the British Consulate- General, Milan. It is revised on a regular basis If any of the information contained in this booklet is incorrect, please draw inaccuracies to our attention so that we can make amendments. The British Embassy Rome and the British Consulate-General, Milan are not accountable for the information provided in this booklet. Local proceedings are subject to change at any time. Thank you. Updated: February

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