Criminal Defence Lawyer in Milan

In criminal proceedings many decisions must be taken within hours or a few days. The first step is to identify which document has arrived, who issued it and when it was served: when you contact us, please tell us the type of document and the date straight away.

• A relative has been arrested or detained. Within forty-eight hours the public prosecutor asks the judge to validate the arrest, and the judge holds the validation hearing within the following forty-eight hours (art. 390 c.p.p.); after an arrest in the act, the prosecutor may instead bring the person directly before the trial judge for validation and a fast-track trial (giudizio direttissimo, art. 449 c.p.p.). Until the person has chosen a lawyer, a close relative may appoint one for them (art. 96 c.p.p.), and the arrested person has the right to speak with their lawyer immediately after the arrest (art. 104 c.p.p.); only for certain serious offences listed in that provision may access be deferred, by a reasoned decision, for no more than five days.
• Search or seizure. Keep the warrant and the record of the operation: review of a seizure (riesame) must be requested within ten days of its execution or of the date the person became aware of it (art. 324 c.p.p.).
• Notice of investigation or summons for questioning. It is not a conviction: it tells you that there is an investigation and invites you to appoint a lawyer. Before making any statement, review the document with your lawyer.
• Notice of conclusion of the investigation. You have twenty days to examine the file, file submissions and documents, or ask to be questioned (art. 415-bis c.p.p.).
• Criminal conviction order (decreto penale di condanna). It may be the first document you receive: an objection must be filed within fifteen days of service (art. 461 c.p.p.).
• You are the victim of a crime. For offences that can only be prosecuted on the victim’s complaint (querela), the time limit is as a rule three months from learning of the offence (art. 124 c.p.).

If the person is held in a Milan prison, such as San Vittore, Opera or Bollate, their lawyer visits them and deals with the judicial authorities; we explain to the family what they can do and which documents to gather.

In criminal law every decision can affect a person’s liberty, assets and reputation, as well as the continuity of a business. That is why we always start from a complete study of the case file and build the strategy on the specific features of the case.

Everyone is entitled to an effective defence, whatever the charge: the Italian Constitution recognises it as an inviolable right (Article 24) and provides that a defendant is not considered guilty until the conviction is final (Article 27). Defence counsel gives these guarantees practical effect: checking that each procedural step is lawful, testing whether the prosecution case holds up and bringing out the evidence in the client’s favour. The firm’s founder, Avv. Marco Bianucci, worked for almost ten years with the chair of Criminal Procedure at the University of Milan, and close attention to the rules of procedure is part of our method.

We work as a team: we analyse the case file together, discuss possible objections and prepare hearings through constant exchange. We have also handled proceedings with significant media exposure; in those cases we weigh every external communication carefully, because protecting the client comes before public debate.

We assist people involved in criminal proceedings from the very first steps, when defence decisions weigh most heavily on what follows. A person whose premises are searched may be assisted by a lawyer of their choice, who has the right to attend even without advance notice (art. 365 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, c.p.p.).

Precautionary measures

Since 2024, during the investigation, the judge must as a rule question the person before ordering a precautionary measure (misura cautelare), such as pre-trial custody or house arrest (interrogatorio preventivo, art. 291 c.p.p.), save for exceptions such as a risk of flight or of tampering with evidence. An order imposing a coercive measure can be challenged by applying for review within ten days.

Questioning

Before any questioning, the person is warned that their statements may always be used against them and that they have the right not to answer, apart from the obligation to state their personal details (arts. 64 and 66 c.p.p.). Whether to answer or remain silent is a decision we prepare with the client after reading the documents available.

From investigation to trial

We reconstruct the facts with the client, prepare written submissions and applications, and carry out defence investigations. When the notice of conclusion of the investigation arrives, within the twenty days allowed by art. 415-bis c.p.p. we can file submissions and documents and request further investigative steps or that the client be questioned. At trial we handle the choice of procedure, applications for evidence, the examination and cross-examination of witnesses and the closing arguments, explaining the reasons for each proposal and the alternatives available.

We assist victims of crime in reconstructing the facts, gathering documentation and filing crime reports and complaints, and we stay with them throughout the proceedings. The first step is to clarify the role the law gives them, because their rights and time limits depend on it.

Injured party and civil party

The injured party (persona offesa) is the holder of the interest protected by the criminal provision that has been breached: at every stage and level of the proceedings they may file written submissions and, except before the Supreme Court, point to evidence (art. 90 c.p.p.). The civil party (parte civile) is a person who has suffered harm from the offence and who, by joining the proceedings, asks the criminal court for restitution and compensation. The two roles often coincide, but they require separate steps and conditions.

Crime reports, complaints and opposition to dismissal

For offences prosecuted ex officio a crime report (denuncia) is enough; for the others a formal complaint by the victim (querela) is required, as a rule within three months of learning of the offence (Article 124 of the Criminal Code, c.p.), with longer time limits in some cases: six months for stalking, twelve for sexual violence. If the public prosecutor asks for the case to be dismissed (archiviazione), an injured party who has asked to be informed may examine the file and object within twenty days, with a reasoned request for the investigation to continue; for offences committed with violence against the person, notice is always served and the time limit rises to thirty days (art. 408 c.p.p.).

Joining the proceedings as a civil party

The civil party application must be filed within strict time limits, after which the right is lost (art. 79 c.p.p.). We document pecuniary and non-pecuniary losses and pursue the claim at trial. When the criminal court is not enough – for example if the defendant opts for plea bargaining, because in that case the court does not rule on the civil claim – we consider an action before the civil court, in coordination with our work on compensation for damage.

We handle offences that protect life, physical integrity, personal and sexual freedom and reputation: homicide and bodily harm, threats, stalking (atti persecutori), abuse of family members and cohabitants (maltrattamenti), sexual violence and defamation. In separate proceedings, we act both for people accused and for injured parties.

These proceedings call for rigour in examining statements, communications – messages, chats, recordings – and technical findings. We reconstruct how the events unfolded and, where needed, look closely at the medico-legal aspects and at whether any justification applies, such as self-defence.

For domestic abuse, stalking, sexual violence and the other offences covered by the rules known as the Codice rosso (“Red Code”), the public prosecutor must as a rule hear the injured party within three days of the offence being entered in the register of crime reports (art. 362, paragraph 1-ter, c.p.p.). Protected hearing arrangements are available for vulnerable people, as are measures such as removal from the family home and a ban on approaching the victim.

When these events are bound up with a separation or with child custody, we coordinate the criminal strategy with the colleagues who handle family law. We treat every matter confidentially, to protect the accused and the victim alike.

We assist business owners, directors, statutory auditors, managers and professionals involved in proceedings arising from the life of a business, and the companies called to answer for them. The defence requires reading financial statements, contracts, delegations of authority and information flows, often with the help of accounting experts.

Corporate offences and bankruptcy offences

Corporate offences concern the accuracy of company information and the protection of capital and creditors: false corporate reporting, disloyal management of company assets, private-sector bribery and obstruction of supervisory authorities (arts. 2621 et seq. of the Civil Code, c.c.). Bankruptcy offences are now set out in the Business Crisis and Insolvency Code (Legislative Decree no. 14/2019) and, for proceedings governed by the previous rules, in the Bankruptcy Law (legge fallimentare). Financial difficulties alone do not prove criminal liability: we reconstruct the transactions, the financial position and the actual role of each person involved.

Tax offences and offences against the public administration

Fraudulent or untrue tax returns, failure to file a return, invoices for non-existent transactions, concealment of accounting records and failure to pay taxes due are governed by Legislative Decree no. 74/2000, whose provisions will be incorporated into the Consolidated Act on Tax Penalties (Testo unico delle sanzioni tributarie) from 1 January 2027. We assess punishability thresholds, the effects of paying the tax debt and the defence against seizure and confiscation. We also assist in proceedings for bribery, extortion by a public official (concussione) and embezzlement by a public official (peculato).

Corporate liability (Legislative Decree no. 231/2001)

A company can be held liable for certain offences committed in its interest or to its advantage by those who manage it or by those under its direction (art. 5). Liability is established by the criminal court and can lead to fines and disqualification sanctions, confiscation and publication of the judgment. We examine the predicate offence, whether the organisational model (modello organizzativo) was adopted and effectively implemented, and the remedial conduct that, before trial, can avoid disqualification sanctions (art. 17). We conduct the entity’s defence separately from that of the individuals: a legal representative charged with the predicate offence cannot represent the company in the proceedings (art. 39).

Defence investigations play a central role in our work. The public prosecutor must also investigate facts in favour of the suspect (art. 358 c.p.p.), but the defence has its own power to gather evidence: from the moment of the written mandate, defence counsel may collect evidence in the client’s favour, in the forms laid down by arts. 327-bis and 391-bis et seq. c.p.p.

In practice we can interview people with knowledge of the facts, request documents from public authorities, access places, and obtain recordings and data. With a specific mandate, some of these activities can be carried out even before any proceedings have begun (art. 391-nonies c.p.p.).

Timing matters: a recording can be overwritten, a place altered, a memory become less precise. From the initial meeting we identify the sources to be preserved and the correct way to collect them, because evidence obtained in ways the law does not allow may prove unusable. Depending on the case, we work with licensed private investigators, medico-legal experts and IT and accounting consultants, whose results we assess critically, as we do those of the prosecution’s experts.

The path varies with the offence and the type of procedure; for the person accused, the main steps are as follows.

1. Preliminary investigation. The public prosecutor, with the judicial police, looks into the crime report. The suspect may ask the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Procura), including through their lawyer, whether they have been entered in the register of crime reports, within the limits of art. 335 c.p.p.
2. End of the investigation. The public prosecutor asks for the case to be dismissed if the evidence gathered does not allow a reasonable prediction of conviction; otherwise the prosecutor brings charges and the suspect becomes a defendant.
3. Preliminary or pre-trial hearing. A judge decides whether the case should go to trial: for the more serious offences at the preliminary hearing (udienza preliminare), for those brought by direct summons at the pre-trial hearing (udienza predibattimentale) introduced by the 2022 Cartabia reform. As a rule, this is also the time to request an alternative procedure.
4. Trial and judgment. Evidence is taken before the court; a conviction requires guilt to be proved beyond reasonable doubt (art. 533 c.p.p.).
5. Appeals. Appeal to the Court of Appeal and appeal to the Supreme Court, in the cases and within the time limits laid down by law.
6. Enforcement. After a final conviction we consider alternatives to imprisonment and the issues to be raised with the enforcement judge or the sentence supervision courts (magistratura di sorveglianza).

The choice of procedure affects how the court decides, which evidence can be used and the sentence in the event of a conviction. We assess it with the client after examining the case file, taking into account the time limits, procedural bars and consequences of each option.

Ordinary trial

Evidence is formed at trial, through the examination and cross-examination of witnesses and the exchange between experts. It is the option to consider when testing the sources of evidence directly can change the account of the facts; it carries no sentence reduction linked to the procedure.

Plea bargaining (patteggiamento, art. 444 c.p.p.)

The defendant and the public prosecutor agree on a sentence, reduced by up to one third, which the court applies after checking that it is correct and appropriate. The agreed custodial sentence cannot exceed five years, with stricter limits for certain offences. The agreement may also cover ancillary penalties, discretionary confiscation and substitute penalties. The judgment has no effect in civil, disciplinary, tax or administrative proceedings, but otherwise it is treated as a conviction.

Abbreviated trial (giudizio abbreviato, arts. 438 et seq. c.p.p.)

The court decides, as a rule, on the investigation file, possibly supplemented by evidence requested by the defence, and may acquit. In the event of a conviction the sentence is reduced by one third for serious offences (delitti) and by half for minor offences (contravvenzioni), with a further reduction of one sixth if the defendant does not appeal the judgment. It is not available for offences punishable by life imprisonment.

Probation (messa alla prova, art. 168-bis c.p.)

For offences punishable by a maximum custodial sentence of four years, and for others specified by law, the defendant may ask for the proceedings to be suspended under a programme that includes unpaid community work and reparative conduct, supervised by the probation service (Ufficio di esecuzione penale esterna). If the probation is completed successfully, the offence is extinguished; as a rule, this can be granted only once.

Particularly minor offences and substitute penalties

For offences punishable by a minimum custodial sentence of no more than two years, or by a fine alone, the offender is not punished when the harm is particularly minor and the conduct is not habitual (art. 131-bis c.p.), except in the cases the law expressly excludes. Where a short sentence is imposed, the court may apply substitute penalties: semi-custody or home detention for sentences of up to four years, community service for up to three, a fine for up to one year (art. 20-bis c.p.). We check from the outset whether the conditions are met, because they shape the strategy.

At any stage and level of the proceedings it is also possible to request access, on a voluntary basis, to the restorative justice programmes introduced by the Cartabia reform.

After the first-instance judgment we study the court’s reasoning to identify concrete grounds of appeal, and we say clearly when an appeal is not advisable.

The appeal

An appeal asks the Court of Appeal – for judgments of the Court of Milan, the Milan Court of Appeal (Corte d’Appello di Milano) – to review the points of the decision identified in the notice of appeal. The time limits are short: as a rule fifteen, thirty or forty-five days, depending on when the reasoning of the judgment is filed (art. 585 c.p.p.), and the grounds must be specific, or the appeal will be inadmissible (art. 581 c.p.p.). As a rule the Court decides in chambers on the written record, unless the parties ask to take part in a hearing. For offences committed on or after 1 January 2020, appeal and Supreme Court proceedings must be completed within maximum time limits; beyond them, save for exceptions, the case can no longer proceed (art. 344-bis c.p.p.).

Plea agreement on appeal (concordato in appello)

Under the agreement provided for by art. 599-bis c.p.p., the parties agree that certain grounds of appeal should be upheld, waive the others and state the agreed sentence, which may also be a substitute penalty. The request must be filed at least fifteen days before the hearing and remains subject to the Court’s decision. It carries no fixed reduction: we weigh its benefits against the issues being given up.

Appeal to the Supreme Court (ricorso per Cassazione)

The Italian Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione), in Rome, does not re-examine the facts: it reviews how the law has been applied and the defects listed in art. 606 c.p.p., including breaches of procedural rules and reasoning that is missing, contradictory or manifestly illogical. The appeal must be signed, or it will be inadmissible, by a lawyer entered in the special register of lawyers admitted to the higher courts (art. 613 c.p.p.). Avv. Marco Bianucci is admitted to practise before the Supreme Court, so we can also handle proceedings before the Court of Cassation.

At the initial meeting we examine the documents available, reconstruct what happened and immediately identify any deadlines. We set out the defence options with a reasoned assessment of the prospects, without promising outcomes that no one can guarantee in criminal proceedings.

To prepare for it, it helps to bring:

• all documents received, with the envelopes or notices of service showing their date;
• a chronological note of the events, written only for your lawyer;
• documents, messages and the names of people who can describe relevant circumstances.

If a court-appointed lawyer (difensore d’ufficio) has already been assigned, appointing a lawyer of your choice replaces them (art. 97 c.p.p.): we can therefore step in at any stage, checking straight away which time limits are still open. Whatever is said at the meeting is covered by professional secrecy.

The meeting takes place at our office at Via Alberto da Giussano 26, Milan, or by video call, in Italian or English, including for clients living outside Milan or abroad. To arrange an appointment you can contact us by phone or using the online form.

Costs

Before taking on the engagement we provide a written estimate (Article 13 of Law no. 247/2012). Fees depend on the stage at which we step in and the work required: the ministerial fee parameters (Ministerial Decree no. 55/2014, as updated) distinguish, in criminal matters, the study, introductory, evidence or trial, and decision stages. The estimate also covers foreseeable expenses and, where needed, the cost of experts and investigators before they are instructed. People whose income is within the statutory limits may apply for legal aid at the State’s expense: we check the requirements at the first meeting.

Choosing a criminal lawyer

There is no ranking of criminal lawyers, but there are things you can check. Enrolment in the bar register can be verified on the website of the Milan Bar Association; an appeal to the Supreme Court requires a lawyer entered in the special register. What also matters is experience in the subject of the proceedings, how clearly strategy, risks and costs are explained, and the ability to act within the time the document requires.