GUZZARDI v. ITALY JUDGMENT
PARTLY DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGE MATSCHER
59
but came to a negative conclusion. Here again, I do not share the views of
the majority, for the following reasons:
On account of the rule in Article 272, first paragraph, of the Italian Code
of Criminal Procedure, Mr. Guzzardi’s detention on remand within the
meaning of that Code had had to terminate on 8 February 1975. However,
he remained subject to criminal charges throughout his enforced stay on
Asinara.
As the Court itself pointed out, it is true that there was "reasonable
suspicion of [Mr. Guzzardi’s] having committed an offence"; it would also
be difficult to deny that it was "reasonably considered necessary to prevent
his ... fleeing after having done so". The conditions which constitute,
probably under the laws of all the States, the "classic" reasons for detention
on remand were thus satisfied in Mr. Guzzardi’s case. Besides, it seems that
the Italian authorities as well saw his situation in this light: they selected
Asinara as the place for compulsory residence because that island was
particularly well suited for separating the applicant from his apparently
Mafioso milieu (see the Milan Court of Appeal’s judgment of 12 March
1975 and the Court of Cassation’s judgment of 6 October 1975: paragraphs
17 and 19 of the present judgment); the authorities were extremely cautious
about granting authorisations for visits to Sardinia or the mainland since
they feared that he might make use of such occasions in order to escape (see
paragraph 14 of the present judgment). In short, these were reasons which
underlie detention on remand.
It remains to determine whether the order for Mr. Guzzardi’s compulsory
residence, seen from this viewpoint, was "lawful" under Italian law, within
the meaning of Article 5 § 1 (c) (art. 5-1-c) of the Convention. Here, doubts
could arise as to the compatibility of the second reason (danger of flight)
with the aim of the Italian Acts of 1956 and 1965 with which, as a matter of
form, the order for Mr. Guzzardi’s residence on Asinara had to comply. On
the other hand, the first reason (separation from other supposedly criminal
elements) was perfectly consonant with the aim of these Acts.
In addition, according to the settled case-law of the Italian courts, an
order for compulsory residence could under certain conditions, which were
satisfied in the present case, refer even to a given locality within a district
and, under the same conditions, the "curtailment" of, and the "undoubted
limitations" on, the "various rights" which compulsory residence on Asinara
entailed for Mr. Guzzardi, were also in conformity with Italian law (see
paragraph 19 of the present judgment).
The conditions laid down in paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 5 (art. 5-2, art.
5-3) of the Convention were also satisfied in this instance: it must be
presumed - and there was no allegation to the contrary - that, when Mr.
Guzzardi had been arrested and charged on 8 February 1973, he had been
informed of the reasons for his arrest and of the charges against him and that
he had been brought promptly before the investigating judge, the transfer to
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