Torreggiani and prison overcrowding in Italy

Abstract

Since the first pilot judgment was delivered by the European Court of Human Rights in 2004, legal scholars have dealt extensively with the pilot judgment procedure, mainly focusing on its legal basis and its effectiveness as a means to cope with the Court's overload. This article aims to analyse the procedure from a rather different perspective, focusing on its impact on domestic legal orders. A recent case on prison overcrowding in Italy will be the starting point of an investigation into the repercussions of pilot judgments on the Italian legal order. To this end, for the purpose of assessing whether, in the case at hand, the pilot judgment procedure has indeed resulted in some type of 'judicial law-making', the article will evaluate the implementation measures undertaken by the Italian authorities. The Author [2017]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.