Il bilanciamento tra esigenze di sicurezza e tutela dei diritti fondamentali nel caso del soggetto detenuto affetto da una grave patologia psichica sopravvenuta alla condanna (a due anni dalla sentenza della Corte n. 99 del 2019)

The sentence no. 99/2019 of the Constitutional Court declared art. 47-ter, paragraph 1-ter, of law no. 354/1975 unconstitutional, thus admitting the application of home detention (socalled “humanitarian”) to inmates suffering from a serious mental illness which occurred during detention. After a brief analysis of the most important aspects of the ruling, the essay examines the effects that this sentence has produced on the protection of the health of detained people sufferin from a serious mental illness. The paper takes into account the specific constitutional rights that must influence the judge’s decision on whether or not to apply home detention to the sick inmate, considering the possibility of balancing prisoners’ fundamental rights and security needs. The aim of the analysis is, on one hand, to reflect on the importance that the sentence no. 99/2019 had in the matter of the protection of prisoners’ mental health and, on the other, to highlight the issues that, two years after the ruling, still remain unsolved.