The offence of facilitation of illegal immigration in Italy is governed by Art. 12 of the Consolidated Act on Immigration (Legislative Decree no. 286/98), which distinguishes between:

- simple offences, consisting in promoting, managing, organizing, financing, or carrying out the transport of foreign people onto the territory of Italy. In other words, simple offences consist in undertaking any action, which causes the illegal entry of a person in the territory of Italy or another State of which said person is not a national or a permanent resident. Simple offences are punishable with  imprisonment up to 5 years, as well as a fine of 15.000 euros for each person who has been granted illegal access onto the State territory.

- aggravated offences, as they are referred to in paragraph 3 of Art. 12:

a) granting illegal access onto the State territory to 5 or more people;

b) endangering the transported person's safety or life;

c) subjecting the transported person to inhuman or degrading treatment;

d) the offence was committed by 3 or more people together, or exploiting international transport services, with counterfeited, altered or illegally obtained documents;

e) the offenders possess weapons or explosives.

Aggravated offences are punishable with imprisonment ranging from 5 to 15 years, as well as a fine of 15.000 euros for each person who has been granted illegal access onto the State territory.

Special aggravating conditions are envisaged in paragraphs 3b-d of the same Article.

Facilitation of illegal immigration in Italy: immigration offences and definition of illegal immigration 

Since the offence of facilitation of illegal immigration in Italy is considered as a common offence, anybody can become a party to it, where the offence in itself consists in undertaking actions aimed at facilitating illegal immigration.

Furthermore, it is a crime of danger: in other words, for the crime to be punishable it is not necessary that a damage has occurred, or that the offence is wholly completed.

From a subjective point of view, the offence requires a criminal intent, that is the offender  wilfully facilitates illegal immigration.

Facilitation of illegal immigration in Italy: in case of need, is it a crime? 

Humanitarian aid provided in Italy to foreigners in need, however they have entered the territory of the State, cannot be considered as facilitation of illegal immigration.

Facilitation of illegal immigration in Italy: how can we help you? 

Arnone&Sicomo International Law Firm has a team of criminal immigration lawyers. 

As criminal attorneys in Italy we provide legal assistance before any Italian Court, following the different stages of Italian criminal trials at all levels of jurisdiction (even Court of Cassation).

We know how difficult it is for a foreigner to be under arrest in Italy and that's why our  team of Italian criminal defence solicitors try to do everything possible to help connvicted people to keep in touch with their original families.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.