Tribunale di Bari (Italy), Decree of 29 April 2022

Health-based vulnerabilities in Italian protection system: recognition and proof

Abstract

The Tribunale di Bari (Italy), in its decision of 29 April 2022, granted a residence permit for “special cases” to a Nigerian citizen given his “extreme subjective vulnerability” due to his mental health condition. The decision provides an opportunity to examine the evolution (or better, the involution) in the Italian system regarding the protection of health-based vulnerabilities, from humanitarian protection to residence permits for medical treatment. The case also provides the opportunity to explore the role of medical certificates in the asylum protection systems as a means of proof to attest a condition of vulnerability and, as in the Italian case, as a necessary document to attest a psychophysical condition that is serious enough to justify issuing a residence permit for medical treatment.