Il meccanismo dell'ostatività alla sbarra. Un primo passo da Roma verso Strasburgo, con qualche inciampo e altra strada da percorrere (nota a Corte Cost., sent. n. 253 del 2019)

The Italian Constitutional Court, with decision n. 253/2019, declared unconstitutional art. 4-bis of Penitentiary Act, which prohibits to admit to penitentiary benefits persons convicted for certain crimes (e.g. crimes related to mafia associations) that have not cooperated with justice (unless cooperation is considered impossible or irrelevant). The paper analyses the reasoning of the Court. Although the decision concerns only the premium-permission, it is possible to predict that soon there will be new constitutional judgments relating to other benefits, with special reference to conditional release; in fact, today, notwithstanding the recent decision of ECHR in case Viola v. Italy, the problem of life imprisonment without parole for persons under art. 4-bis is still unsolved.