The certification of drug or alcohol dependency is an essential step to apply for therapeutic probation provided for by Article 94 of Presidential Decree no. 309 of October 9, 1990. However, simply presenting a certificate containing a diagnosis is not enough: the law requires precise indications regarding how the dependency was ascertained and the treatment program that the person intends to start or continue.
I will explain which facilities can issue the certification, what it must contain, and why the document, despite being mandatory, does not alone guarantee admission to the measure. We will also examine which limits depend on the sentence to be served, what the surveillance court evaluates, and how to distinguish probation under Article 94 from the new therapeutic home detention introduced in 2026.
What Therapeutic Probation Is
Probation under Article 94 is an alternative measure to detention intended for drug or alcohol-dependent individuals who must serve a final sentence and are currently undergoing a treatment program, or intend to undertake one. The sentence is served outside prison, under the supervision of the social service and in compliance with the prescriptions established by the judicial authority.
This measure does not coincide with ordinary probation provided for by the penitentiary system. Its characterizing element is the treatment program: the external execution of the sentence must allow for a pathway aimed at treating the dependency and, at the same time, reducing the risk of new offenses. The discipline is contained in Article 94 of Presidential Decree no. 309 of October 9, 1990.
The dependency does not necessarily have to have caused the offense exclusively or immediately. Nevertheless, the court considers the relationship between the personal condition, the proposed treatment pathway, the conduct of the convicted person, and the risk of recidivism. A correct health certification proves the clinical prerequisite, but remains distinct from the judicial evaluation regarding the possibility of serving the sentence through the alternative measure.
What Certification Must Accompany the Application
Certification is required under penalty of inadmissibility: if it is missing or does not come from an authorized subject, the court may not examine the request on its merits. For this reason, the document should not be confused with a simple report from the attending physician, a medical prescription, or a generic certificate of intake.
Who Can Issue the Document
Certification may come from a public health facility, normally the SerD, which is the public addiction service traditionally referred to as Ser.T. It can also be issued by a private facility, but this must be accredited for the specific diagnostic activity referred to in Article 116 of Presidential Decree no. 309/1990.
It is necessary to distinguish the suitability to carry out the program from the suitability to certify the dependency. Article 94 allows the pathway to be agreed upon with the public service or an authorized private facility; to issue the certification necessary for the application, however, the private facility must possess specific diagnostic accreditation. The amendment defining these requirements is reported in Law no. 49 of February 21, 2006.
The cost borne by the National Health Service constitutes a further issue. To this end, the law requires that the facility possess institutional accreditation and have stipulated the necessary contractual agreements. A facility may therefore be authorized to carry out a treatment without every service being automatically supported by the public health service.
What It Must Certify
The document must describe a verifiable diagnosis. Article 94 requires attestation of the state of drug or alcohol dependency and an indication of the procedure used to ascertain the habitual use of narcotic, psychotropic, or alcoholic substances. A formula that merely reports past consumption, without explaining the checks performed, may not satisfy the requirement.
If the program has already begun, the certification must also report its progress. It must furthermore express an opinion on the suitability of the pathway with respect to the rehabilitation of the convicted person. The text of Article 94, paragraph 1, with the sentence limits and the content of the certification, is recalled in the provisions published with Law no. 199 of November 26, 2010.
Certifying does not mean predicting the outcome of the measure. The health facility evaluates the dependency and the therapeutic coherence of the program; it does not decide whether the convicted person deserves probation and cannot substitute the court's evaluation regarding the prevention of further offenses, conduct, and the compatibility of the prescriptions with the concrete situation.
The Treatment Program Must Be Concrete and Practicable
The application must be based on a personalized program, agreed upon with the public addiction service or with a private facility authorized pursuant to Article 116. The program may already be underway or prepared to start upon admission to the measure. In both cases, it must indicate activities, checks, treatment modalities, and conditions that allow its effective performance to be verified.
The pathway does not necessarily coincide with residential treatment in a community. Based on therapeutic needs, it may include outpatient visits, pharmacological treatment, clinical checks, psychological support, socio-rehabilitative activities, or a residential solution. The choice depends on the diagnosed needs, not on the apparent greater severity of a given facility.
An abstractly valid program may prove impracticable if it does not consider the residence, work hours, family obligations, permitted travel, and the possibility of carrying out checks. These elements must not turn the pathway into a mere convenience solution: they serve to verify that therapy can start immediately or continue without interruptions and in compliance with judicial prescriptions.
Sentence Limits and Conditions Evaluated by the Court
The general limit is a custodial sentence not exceeding six years, calculated on the sentence that must be concretely served, even if residual and even if combined with a pecuniary penalty. If the enforcement order includes an offense provided for by Article 4-bis of the penitentiary system, the limit indicated by Article 94 drops to four years.
Therefore, the overall enforcement order counts, not just the sentence indicated in a single judgment. Cumulative convictions, periods already served, recognized pre-trial detention, and other provisions affecting the residual sentence can change the possibility of accessing the measure. Health certification does not overcome a missing sentence limit and does not eliminate any obstacles deriving from the nature of the offenses.
The court must believe that the program contributes to rehabilitation and is compatible with the prevention of the risk of new offenses. For this purpose, conduct following the offense, compliance with an already initiated pathway, residential stability, relations with environments linked to consumption, observance of previous prescriptions, and the ways in which the program addresses risk factors assume significance.
Probation cannot be granted automatically even when the sentence falls within the threshold and the certification is formally complete. The court establishes prescriptions regarding the program, relations with the social service, residence, travel, and permitted activities. Furthermore, therapeutic probation provided for by Article 94 cannot be granted more than twice.
When and How the Request Is Submitted
Article 94 allows the measure to be requested at any time during enforcement, provided its prerequisites are met. The concrete procedure changes depending on whether the person is free, under house arrest, or already detained, and whether the enforcement order has been suspended or executed.
The suspension of the imprisonment order should not be taken for granted. The rules of Article 656 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provide limits, exclusions, and modalities that depend on the sentence and the enforcement order. If entry into prison has already taken place, the application remains possible, but any provisional application requires additional conditions and a specific decision by the surveillance magistracy.
The program and the certification must be coordinated. It is not sufficient to attach a dated diagnostic document if the current pathway is different or not yet defined; likewise, a therapeutic proposal lacking the attestation required by Article 94 does not fill the documentary defect. To prepare the application, the updated enforcement order, sentence provisions, certification, and the program in their complete version are useful.
The New Therapeutic Home Detention of 2026
Since August 21, 2026, Article 94-ter also exists, introduced by Law no. 140 of August 5, 2026. The provision concerns home detention in special cases for drug-addicted or alcohol-dependent individuals when the prerequisites of probation under Article 94 are not met. Therefore, it is not simply a broader version of the same probation.
The new measure is based on a residential socio-rehabilitative treatment program or, in cases indicated by the law, a semi-residential one. The general sentence limit is eight years, while for a title including offenses under Article 4-bis, the general limit is set at four years, with specific exceptions established for offenses indicated by the provision.
The documentation required by Article 94-ter is autonomous and includes the evaluation of the actual and current condition of dependency, the ascertainment procedure, and the suitability of the program. If the pathway is already underway, its progress and capacity to favor rehabilitation and re-socialization must also emerge, considering any concomitant psychiatric and toxicological conditions. The current text can be consulted in Law no. 140 of August 5, 2026.
What Happens During Probation
The program becomes part of the prescriptions of the measure. The convicted person must start it immediately or continue it, comply with checks, and observe the other conditions established. The social service follows the progress of probation, while the therapeutic facility checks the health pathway according to their respective competencies.
A relapse, an absence, or a violation do not always produce the same effect: gravity, repetition, justification, and the compatibility of the conduct with the continuation of probation count. The program may require adjustments, but judicial prescriptions cannot be modified unilaterally by the convicted person or the therapeutic facility.
אםThe therapeutic part concludes positively before the end of the sentence, the surveillance magistrate can redetermine the prescriptions and allow the continuation of the measure with purposes of social reintegration. The positive outcome of the entire probation produces the extinguishing effects provided for by the applicable discipline; a revocation, on the other hand, entails the redetermination of the sentence still to be served.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a certificate from a general practitioner sufficient?
No, it is normally not sufficient. Article 94 requires a certification issued by a public health facility or a private facility accredited for specific diagnostic activity. The document must attest to dependency, indicate how habitual use was ascertained, and express an opinion on the treatment program.
Must I already be followed by the SerD?
The program may have already started or still need to be undertaken. If it is underway, the certification must also describe its progress. If it is about to start, a concrete project is still required, agreed upon with the public service or an authorized facility, and judged suitable with respect to rehabilitation.
Must the court grant probation with certification?
No, certification proves the health prerequisite but does not decide the application. The court also verifies the residual sentence, the nature of the offenses, the practicability of the program, conduct, and the capacity of the measure to favor rehabilitation while preventing further offenses.
Can I request Article 94 with a residual sentence of six years?
Yes, generally speaking the limit also includes exactly six years. However, if the enforcement order includes an offense under Article 4-bis of the penitentiary system, the threshold provided by Article 94 is four years. The calculation must be made on the overall sentence to be served.
Are probation under Article 94 and home detention under Article 94-ter the same?
No, they are different measures. Article 94 regulates therapeutic probation to social service within the relative sentence limits. Article 94-ter, in force since August 21, 2026, provides for therapeutic home detention, including residential, when the prerequisites of probation are not met and requires specific documentation.
Identifying the Correct Measure and Documentation
The first point is to distinguish diagnosis, certification, and program: they are connected elements, but not interchangeable. They must then be compared with the enforcement order and the measure that can actually be requested. If you need to clarify which discipline applies and which documentary deficiencies can be corrected, you can contact us before submitting the application.