The judges cited a ruling by the European Court of Justice, which states that EU member countries can only declare whole nations as safe, not specific regions. Some states Italy sought to designate as safe include unsafe areas.
During a press conference Monday evening, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio described the ECJ ruling as “very complex” — which is why, he argued, the Italian judges might not have understood it correctly.
“This ruling, in addition to reiterating the principle that the concept of safe states belongs to states, sets the condition for which states intend to give a different definition of ‘safe country’ in relation to specific cases,” he explained.
He also argued that some migrants might lie about their origins to avoid deportation.
“A person can come from a country that is completely safe but claim to be, for example, Bangladeshi,” he said, adding: “This is also something that should be corrected in my opinion.”