Prison conditions are a very discussed topic in Italy and it seems that there are no chance to improve them because of the lack of capital investment in this field. However, it has to be reminded that the State can be responsible, on a supranational level also in front of the European Court of Human Rights for the alleged violations of art. 3 of the Convention. This is a very important aspect for the strengthening of the international co-operation in criminal justice matters such as the enforcement of the European Arrest Warrant and the Framework Decision on the Transfer of Prisoners. The aim of these instruments is to send foreigner prisoners back to their origin country but this can’t obviously be done if there is a concrete risk that they could be tortured or treated in an inhuman or degrading manner. The present work highlights the Italian situation under the profile of the violations of art. 3 from a comparative point of view, by taking also into consideration the international relevant instruments both on the universal and regional level.
