Judgment No. 15865 of the First Criminal Section of the Court of Cassation, decided on 17 January and filed on 16 April 2024, concerns the mandate required to challenge a judgment against a defendant tried in their absence. Its principle must be read within the rules applied at the time, which were subsequently amended.

The principle stated in 2024

According to official headnote Rv. 286286-01, the appointment of chosen defence counsel in a legal aid application filed with the appeal was not equivalent to the specific mandate required by Article 581(1-quater) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The appointment alone did not meet that requirement, and the appeal was declared inadmissible.

The subsequent amendment

Article 2(1)(o) of Law No. 114 of 9 August 2024 added the words referring to court-appointed counsel to paragraph 1-quater. In the current text consulted on 23 September 2026, the obligation therefore concerns court-appointed defence counsel for defendants tried in their absence. The mandate must be issued after the judgment, include the defendant's declaration or election of domicile, and be filed with the appeal, failing which the appeal is inadmissible.

The 2024 headnote should therefore not be presented as imposing the same current obligation on chosen defence counsel. For an individual appeal, the rules applicable at the relevant time and their procedural requirements must be identified.

Official sources: Corte di cassazione, Rassegna del Massimario; Art. 581 c.p.p., testo vigente; Legge 114/2024, art. 2.