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GUZZARDI v. ITALY JUDGMENT
154, in connection with a point not even contested by the respondent State).
The present case does rise - notably with regard to Article 5 (art. 5) - issues
of interpretation sufficiently important to call for decision. For this reason
as well, the Court does not consider that the proceedings have become
devoid of object.
II. THE MERITS
A. Preliminary observation
87. The Government stressed that public order in Italy was currently
menaced by serious threats, coming essentially from political terrorism and
the mafia.
88. Without losing sight of the general context of the case, the Court
recalls that, in proceedings originating in an individual application, it has to
confine its attention, as far as possible, to the issues raised by the concrete
case before it. Accordingly, the Court’s task is to review under the
Convention not the 1956 and 1965 Acts as such - the principle underlying
them was anyway not challenged by the applicant - but the manner in which
those Acts were actually applied to Mr. Guzzardi, namely the conditions
surrounding his enforced stay on Asinara from 8 February 1975 until 22
July 1976 (see the above-mentioned Deweer judgment, p. 21, par. 40, the
Schiesser judgment of 4 December 1979, Series A no. 34, p. 14, par. 32,
etc.; cf. the above-mentioned Ireland v. the United Kingdom judgment, p.
60, par. 149).
B. The alleged breach of Article 5 par. 1 (art. 5-1)
89. Article 5 par. 1 (art. 5-1) of the Convention reads:
"Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be deprived
of his liberty save in the following cases and in accordance with a procedure
prescribed by law:
(a) the lawful detention of a person after conviction by a competent court;
(b) the lawful arrest or detention of a person for non-compliance with the lawful
order of a court or in order to secure the fulfilment of any obligation prescribed by
law;
(c) the lawful arrest or detention of a person effected for the purpose of bringing him
before the competent legal authority on reasonable suspicion of having committed
an offence or when it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent his committing
an offence or fleeing after having done so;