Jailbirds in northern Italy will soon be able to offer judges a sweetener -- though serving up an extra smooth cappuccino is unlikely to be enough to get time off their sentences.

The coffee shop in the courthouse of Turin is seeking unusual baristas: prisoners or former prisoners looking for a way to pay their debt to society or start afresh.

The city council signed off Wednesday on the plan for the cafe, which serves some 900 court employees as well as hundreds of magistrates, lawyers and members of the public.

The bar, currently closed for management issues, will re-open in a few months, council spokesperson Michele Chicco told AFP.

"This is part of efforts to humanise the detention of prisoners: having a job during the day, being in contact with clients, helps reintegrate offenders at the end of their sentences," he said.

It was not clear what would happen if convicts armed with coffee beans came face to face with the prosecutors who nailed them.