She had been considered negligent in her judicial police activity and was accused of having too many staff illnesses, so – after about two years of command – they first revoked her leadership of the prison officers of the Badu 'e Carros prison on April 26, 2021 and then, two days later, they transferred her to the penal colony of Isili without an assignment. And again: in October 2021 she received a new transfer to Oristano, as deputy commander of the penitentiary, and about six months ago she was finally applied to the Regional Prison Authority. Now, however, the Council of State – overturning a previous ruling by the TAR Sardinia – has definitively ruled that revoking the command of director Manuela Cojana, the first woman sent in September 2019 to head the Penitentiary Police in the super-prison of Nuoro, was an illegitimate measure. Now, barring any surprises, she will have to be reinstated in the role and functions that were taken away from her almost 4 years ago.

The sentence

The facts that gave rise to the revocation of the assignment would have arisen from a disciplinary proceeding that would have essentially concerned the failure to timely transmit a crime report to the Prosecutor's Office. In reality, the criminal investigation that arose from these facts ended with the case being shelved because no elements of responsibility emerged. "The provision for the revocation of the assignment," reads the ruling of the Council of State, "was issued both because of that episode and for organizational and management inefficiencies that would be demonstrated by an increase in sick leave of absences of the Penitentiary Police personnel employed in the department led by the appellant. None of these reasons is sufficient to support such a decision, which is revealed to be unjustified." The increase in sick leave, the judges clarify, does not demonstrate the inadequacy of the commander - defended by the lawyer Riccardo Gozzi - in the management of the facility in the absence of clarifications on the widespread pathologies that demonstrate a direct connection with those who hold a management role. The illegitimacy of the revocation of the assignment also derives, in a cascade, that of all the other transfer acts that have followed in recent years and which have seen Commissioner Cojana engaged in a complicated legal dispute with the Department of Penitentiary Administration.

The demotion

"It follows that the appellant has been objectively demoted as a result of the illegitimate measures adopted by the administration against him," the ruling continues, "therefore, all the conditions exist (conduct, fault, causal link, damaging event) to condemn the Ministry of Justice to compensate for the damage suffered." The Council of State notes that there has been damage to the image and reputation of the officer, as well as that deriving from the right to hold positions related to the rank and classification of the manager. The ruling also recognizes the autonomy of the judicial police activity of the commander with respect to the director of the prison. Now, following this ruling, Commissioner Cojana - barring any surprises - should be reinstated in her functions in command of the agents of Badu 'e Carros or in another penitentiary of the same level.

© Riproduzione riservata