Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's plan to outsource migrant processing to Albania has hit a new hurdle, with seven men expected to be transferred back to Italy shortly.
The policy is being closely scrutinised by Europe and judges' refusal to validate the detention requests comes despite the government's efforts to prevent opposition to the scheme by changing Italian laws.
READ ALSO: Italy sends 8 more migrants to Albania despite recent legal opposition
Last month, a first attempt to detain 12 migrants from Bangladesh and Egypt in Albania was swiftly rejected by Rome judges over Italy's definition of certain countries from which migrants hailed as "safe" for repatriation.
The judges pointed to a recent European Court of Justice ruling that stated that EU states can only designate entire countries as safe, not parts of countries.
In response, Rome passed a law stating that all parts of the 19 countries on its list were safe.
The change sparked a series of requests from courts across Italy for European guidance, with judges saying national and European laws did not align.
The referral to the European court was done to "clarify various aspects of doubtful compatibility with supranational legislation" and Italy's law, Rome judges wrote in a ruling viewed by AFP.
An interior ministry source confirmed that the Egyptian and Bangladeshi migrants would have to be transferred back to Italy.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, head of the populist League party, slammed it ass "a political ruling, not against the government, but against Italians and their safety".
The centres in Albania opened last month.
They can hold hundreds of migrants at a time but are currently empty.
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