Housing squatting and the fundamental and human rights at stake

Abstract

This paper analyzes the squatting of residential properties phenomenon, which is the result of the failure of public policies and causes different types of problems for both homeowners and condominiums. The approach to this issue at legislative, judicial and social level is diverse and, quite often, contradictory depending on whether the interests of homeowners (in which case the lawmaker tends to speed up the procedure for recovering possession of the dwelling or an increase in the penalty of the crime of usurpation is proposed) or of the possessors of the dwelling (whose possession status is protected in some laws or on the basis of the application of human and fundamental rights) are intended to protect. For this reason, an analysis from a holistic perspective is needed taking into account the several fundamental and human rights at stake, basically the right to private property, the right to housing, the protection of private and family life and the inviolability of the domicile. To do this, the protection that the legal system provides to homeowners on civil, criminal and administrative basis is briefly analyzed, then the relevant fundamental and human rights are contextualized and, finally, a reflection is made on how to approach this phenomenon taking into consideration its treatment in comparative law.