30
GUZZARDI v. ITALY JUDGMENT
its aim is to ensure that no one should be dispossessed of this liberty in an
arbitrary fashion. As was pointed out by those appearing before the Court,
the paragraph is not concerned with mere restrictions on liberty of
movement; such restrictions are governed by Article 2 of Protocol No. 4
(P4-2) which has not been ratified by Italy. In order to determine whether
someone has been "deprived of his liberty" within the meaning of Article 5
(art. 5), the starting point must be his concrete situation and account must be
taken of a whole range of criteria such as the type, duration, effects and
manner of implementation of the measure in question (see the Engel and
others judgment of 8 June 1976, Series A no. 22, p. 24, par. 58-59).
93. The difference between deprivation of and restriction upon liberty is
nonetheless merely one of degree or intensity, and not one of nature or
substance. Although the process of classification into one or other of these
categories sometimes proves to be no easy task in that some borderline
cases are a matter of pure opinion, the Court cannot avoid making the
selection upon which the applicability or inapplicability of Article 5 (art. 5)
depends.
94. As provided for under the 1956 Act (see paragraphs 48-49 above),
special supervision accompanied by an order for compulsory residence in a
specified district does not of itself come within the scope of Article 5 (art.
5). The Commission acknowledged this: it focused its attention on Mr.
Guzzardi’s "actual position" at Cala Reale (see paragraphs 5, 94, 99, etc. of
the report) and pointed out that on 5 October 1977 it had declared
inadmissible application no. 7960/77 lodged by the same individual with
regard to his living conditions at Force (see paragraph 93 of the report and
paragraph 56 above).
It does not follow that "deprivation of liberty" may never result from the
manner of implementation of such a measure, and in the present case the
manner of implementation is the sole issue that falls to be considered (see
paragraph 88 above).
95. The Government’s reasoning (see paragraph 91 above) is not without
weight. It demonstrates very clearly the extent of the difference between the
applicant’s treatment on Asinara and classic detention in prison or strict
arrest imposed on a serviceman (see the above-mentioned Engel and others
judgment, p. 26, par. 63). Deprivation of liberty may, however, take
numerous other forms. Their variety is being increased by developments in
legal standards and in attitudes; and the Convention is to be interpreted in
the light of the notions currently prevailing in democratic States (see
notably the Tyrer judgment of 25 April 1978, Series A no. 26, pp. 15-16,
par. 31).
Whilst the area around which the applicant could move far exceeded the
dimensions of a cell and was not bounded by any physical barrier, it covered
no more than a tiny fraction of an island to which access was difficult and
about nine-tenths of which was occupied by a prison. Mr. Guzzardi was