6
GUZZARDI v. ITALY JUDGMENT
The Court of Appeal consequently suspended its order on the same day
and directed that further hearings on the matter be held on 12 March 1975.
15. The officer commanding the criminal investigation department of the
Milan carabinieri wrote, also on 14 February 1975, to the Court of appeal
with the following information which had been supplied by the Sassari
carabinieri:
- for those subjected to compulsory residence on Asinara, there were
only two flats suitable for accommodating a family; they were occupied by
the families in turn for periods of between thirty and sixty days;
- the island offered no possibility of permanent employment; there was
just one firm which employed two residents in turn for short spaces of time;
- the police stationed on Asinara were in a position to effect the requisite
supervision.
16. On 17 and 21 February 1975, Mr. Catalano filed memorials with the
Court of Appeal challenging the "fanciful" statements of the prosecuting
authorities and requesting that further enquiries be undertaken in the shape
of an investigation on the spot (sopral-luogo). In his view, his client was
physically and mentally a prisoner (carcerato) on Asinara; he was vegetating
there in conditions worse than those of his detention on remand. The
applicant himself, in a letter of 20 February, described the island as a
"veritable concentration camp".
17. On 12 March 1975, the Milan Court of Appeal (1st Chamber)
dismissed the appeal and confirmed the decision of 30 January. As regards
Mr. Guzzardi’s health and the absence of violation of section 3 of the 1956
Act, the Court of Appeal relied in substance on the arguments that had
already been invoked by the prosecuting authorities on 14 February (see
paragraph 14 above, second sub-paragraph). It found no good reason for
regarding Asinara as an unsuitable locality for compulsory residence. It
emphasised that the contested measure was designed to separate the
individual from his milieu and render his contacts with it more difficult.
This requirement took precedence over other problems, such as the absence
of regular employment and of adequate accommodation for a family;
moreover, at the time of his marriage the applicant could not have hoped to
live with his wife and son since he was then in detention on remand and
under a serious charge. His criminal record, the most disquieting criminal
activities in which he engaged under the cloak of honesty, his violent
character and his exceptional cunning showed that he presented a marked
danger to society (spiccata pericolosità sociale). Supervision of such an
individual was sufficiently important to justify the curtailment of other
individual legal interests taken into account by the law (l’affievolimento di
alter situazioni giuridiche soggettive che la legge prende in considerazione).
18. Mr. Guzzardi appealed to the Court of Cassation. In a supplementary
memorial of 3 April 1975, his lawyer put forward three grounds of appeal