Probation in Italy. Legal Culture and Justice Models

Quite recently, Italian Law 67/2014 extended the messa alla prova scheme to adult defendants, albeit not exactly with the same features as for juvenile ones. There are indeed some important differences: first about the types of offences and about Community Service Work, and also about the use of restorative justice practices. This paper suggests some questions, using the concept of legal culture: 1. the involvement of the various players, because they have varying degrees of power, resources and tools; 2. the probation scheme and its purposes, because it could be useful to re-habilitate, or to restore, or something else; 3. the use of restorative justice, which appears less than widely used, and the engagement of the victims of the crimes admitted to messa alla prova programmes. Legal culture is crucial for messa alla prova, as it benefits from the convergent approach of different views and professions.