The Aggravating Circumstance of Multiple Persons Assembled: The Cassation Court Ruling No. 25175/2025 and the Factual Allegation

Judgment No. 25175 of the Fifth Criminal Section of Italy's Court of Cassation, decided on 5 June 2025 and filed on 9 July 2025, concerns alleging the aggravating circumstance of multiple persons assembled through the factual description of the charge. The official case record reports that the appeal against the L'Aquila Court of Appeal's decision of 28 May 2024 was declared inadmissible.

The official headnote

According to headnote Rv. 288356-01, the presence of at least two participants at the time of the offence may emerge from the manner in which related or connected offences were committed, as described in the corresponding counts of the indictment. This may also apply where the defendant was cleared of those offences, provided that their underlying material facts were definitively established. The reference is therefore to the description of the charges, rather than any evidence obtained in other proceedings.

The statutory reference

For personal injury offences, the aggravating circumstance is provided for by Article 585, paragraph 1, of the Criminal Code. Article 110 instead governs participation by multiple persons in an offence: the two concepts should not be conflated.

Source: Court of Cassation's Office of the Massimario, criminal-law review for July–August 2025, page 101, Rv. 288356-01. This note summarises the official headnote.