In the field of protection and consular assistance, many interventions concern citizens who run into problems with local justice or who get involved in incidents; the repatriation of corpses; the search for countrymen who no longer give news of themselves; assistance to Italian parents, to whom the foreign spouse or double citizen has stolen a child, taking it abroad.
For incidents occurring abroad, the Diplomatic and Consular Representations shall ensure that citizens receive appropriate medical treatment on site, that the family members are duly informed and that all possible assistance is provided in the event of a need to move to Italy.
In the event that a compatriot is arrested in a foreign country, the Consulate may:
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conduct consular visits to the detainee;
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indicate a possible legal;
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care for connections with family members in Italy;
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ensure that the detainee is provided with medical care, food, books and newspapers where necessary and permitted by local regulations;
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intervene for the transfer to Italy, if the compatriot is held in countries adhering to the Strasbourg Convention on the transfer of prisoners or ad hoc bilateral agreements;
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intervene, in particular cases, to support requests for pardons, on humanitarian grounds.
The Consulate may not:
- intervene in court on behalf of the compatriot;
- pay the prisoner’s legal fees.
The international abduction of minors
The problem of the international abduction of minors has recently become increasingly important, both because of the increase in separations, often in conflict, between people of different or dual citizenship, both for the greater sensitivity with which the problem is felt in our country.
The only binding instrument available to the compatriot parent for the recovery of the child is the Hague Convention of 25.10.1980 (Central Authority for Italy is the Juvenile Justice Department at the Ministry of Justice). In case of non-applicability of the Convention, the Ministry fully implements its institutional functions modulating the interventions in relation to the specificity of the cases.