Receiving a decree of immediate judgment can give the impression that the trial is already decided or that there is no room left to choose. This is not the case: the decree leads directly to trial and skips the preliminary hearing, but it does not establish guilt. The urgent point is to understand what changes in terms of timing and procedural options.
I will explain when this procedure can be ordered, which elements make the received decree relevant, and why the first few days serve above all not to lose faculties provided by law. We will also look at the difference between facing trial and evaluating alternative procedures, without confusing a reduction in trial times with an automatic response to the charge.
What Immediate Judgment Is and What Changes
Immediate judgment avoids the preliminary hearing. Instead of the stage where the judge assesses whether the accusation should proceed to trial, the public prosecutor requests that the defendant be called directly before the trial judge. The decree indicates the charge and sets the hearing, but it is not a judgment and does not replace the assessment that will take place in the trial.
This procedural choice affects first and foremost the available time. The defense does not have the preliminary hearing as a venue to guide the proceedings, while the issue immediately arises of whether to exercise the faculties provided after notification or prepare for trial. The rapidity of the procedure does not eliminate the right of defense. However, it makes it more important to use with precision the opportunities that the code preserves.
The decree alone does not prove that the prosecution's reconstruction is correct. It means that the judge for preliminary investigations has accepted the request to proceed with this procedure, verifying the relative prerequisites. The discussion on the facts, the reliability of the statements, the origin of the documents, and the meaning of the evidence remains distinct from the choice of the procedural path.
When the Public Prosecutor Can Request the Procedure
The ordinary prerequisite is the clarity of the evidence. Article 453 of the code of criminal procedure links immediate judgment to an evidentiary framework that already appears clear and further requires that the person has been interrogated on the relevant facts or has remained absent without legitimate impediment after a regularly notified invitation to appear. The regulations can be consulted in Article 453 of the code of criminal procedure.
Having been heard during the investigations does not equate to having admitted the fact. That step serves to ensure that the suspect has had the opportunity to confront the charge before accessing the ordinary immediate procedure. Therefore, the content of the interrogation and the regularity of the invitation matter. A summons referring to different facts or an unjustified failure to appear may take on a different significance compared to a correct invitation that went unanswered.
There is also immediate judgment linked to pre-trial detention. In this case, Article 453 provides for distinct rules: the request concerns the offense for which the person is in a state of pre-trial detention, must follow the definition of the review or the deadline for proposing it, and must be formulated within one hundred and eighty days from the execution of the measure, barring serious prejudice to the investigations. Therefore, the mere existence of a custodial proceeding is not enough. It is necessary to verify the relationship between the measure, the charge, and the sequence of acts.
The Received Decree: Data to Understand Immediately
Notification opens deadlines that do not coincide with the date of the hearing. The decree must also contain the notice of the possibility to request the abbreviated trial, the application of penalty upon request of the parties, and the suspension of the proceedings with probation. The code also establishes that the defendant and the victim receive the decree and the public prosecutor's request at least thirty days before the set hearing. The text of Articles 456 and 458 of the c.p.p. reported in the Official Gazette clarifies these notices and the deadline for requesting the abbreviated procedure.
The request for an abbreviated trial must be filed within fifteen days, on pain of forfeiture. The period runs from the later notification: service of the decree on the defendant or of the notice on defence counsel, under Article 458 as corrected by Constitutional Court judgment no. 120 of 2002. Waiting for the first hearing may be too late. Both notifications must therefore be checked, rather than only the date when the defendant received the decree.
The decree must be read together with the accompanying request from the public prosecutor. The charge delimits the contested fact; the indicated sources of evidence show upon which elements the prosecution bases its request for trial. It is not useful to stop only at the legal qualification of the offense: the defense depends on the precise facts attributed, the indicated period, the people involved, the communications, the documents, and what the prosecution claims it can prove.
A frequent mistake is deciding an alternative procedure by looking only at the abstractly provided penalty. The choice instead requires distinguishing what is already usable from the files from what should be clarified through the examination of witnesses, the acquisition of documents, or a different technical reconstruction. If the charge contains multiple episodes or multiple defendants, even the connection between individual accusations can change the meaning of the choice.
Abbreviated Trial, Plea Bargaining, and Probation
The Abbreviated Trial
The abbreviated trial asks the judge to decide primarily on the investigative files. It can be a coherent choice if the material already gathered allows for effectively discussing the accusation without having to develop a broad trial instruction. However, it should not be understood as an automatic waiver of defense: the request can be formulated simply or made conditional upon a specific evidentiary integration, within the limits provided by the code.
The conditional request requires an additional step: the integration must be necessary to decide and compatible with the purposes of the procedure. Not every desired evidence makes the conditional abbreviated trial suitable. If the conditional request is not accepted, the code preserves further possibilities in the same venue, including the request for a simple abbreviated trial, plea bargaining, or probation, according to the applicable conditions.
Application of Penalty Upon Request of the Parties
Plea bargaining is not a simple admission of responsibility. It is a procedure that requires a proposal consistent with legal limits, discussion with the public prosecutor, and the judge's control over the correctness of the qualification, the penalty, and the absence of reasons for an immediate acquittal. Following a decree of immediate judgment, the request follows the deadline and forms recalled by the code for this phase.
This option cannot be evaluated by isolating the sanction advantage alone. One must consider the actual charge, the contested circumstances, the effects of the definition of the trial, and the sustainability of an agreement. A projected penalty is not enough to make the choice convenient. If the files present decisive gaps or the fact requires confrontation with evidence to be formed in trial, the reasoning changes.
Suspension with Probation
Probation is possible only in the cases indicated by law. It is not an alternative procedure available for every offense and requires a request from the defendant, a treatment program, and a judicial evaluation. When a decree of immediate judgment has been notified, Article 464-bis expressly recalls the deadline and forms of Article 458: here too, timeliness is essential. The reference is in Article 464-bis of the code of criminal procedure.
The program can include restorative commitments, community service, and, where possible, conduct directed at the victim. It is not sufficient to declare oneself available in a generic manner. The request must deal with the prerequisites of the contested offense, the personal situation of the defendant, and a program concretely prepared or at least requested from the competent office.
Preparing for Trial When an Alternative Procedure Is Not Chosen
The trial remains the venue to form and discuss evidence before the judge. If an alternative procedure is not chosen, or if the choice cannot be accepted, attention focuses on the charge and the evidence that will have to be examined. A statement made during investigations, a message extracted from a phone, or a technical consultation do not all assume the same value without considering how they were acquired and how they can be discussed in the trial.
The defensive line does not coincide with denying every allegation. It may concern the identification of the person, the meaning of a conduct, the existence of the subjective element required by the offense, the reconstruction of the sequence of facts, or the usability of a specific act. An effective defense starts from the precise question that the evidence must resolve. Saying that a document is incomplete is useful only if one explains which essential fact remains without proof.
To orient oneself in the first few days, it is appropriate to keep available the decree, the public prosecutor's request, the notification acts, and any custodial orders already received. These documents allow one to place the dates and understand which fact is contested. It is not prudent to rely on informal communications or summaries received from third parties. The decision on deadlines and procedures must start from the official acts.
Risks to Avoid in the Defensive Choice
The main risk is missing a deadline while thinking that the trial date is the only deadline. The fifteen days provided for the abbreviated trial and recalled for other pertinent requests are autonomous with respect to the set hearing. A late choice may preclude the procedure that would have been abstractly available.
A second risk consists in treating immediate judgment as an automatism deriving from a serious accusation. The seriousness of the fact is not, by itself, the criterion of Article 453. The prerequisite of evidentiary clarity must be distinguished from the merits of the charge. This distinction helps not to confuse the procedure chosen by the public prosecutor with the final proof of responsibility.
Finally, there is no single best choice among abbreviated trial, plea bargaining, probation, and trial. The answer depends on the nature of the offense, the available files, the evidence that needs to be formed, the legal requirements of each institution, and the effects that the reader intends to evaluate. Comparing at least two paths avoids decisions made out of mere urgency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does immediate judgment mean that I have already been convicted?
No. The decree orders the direct transition to trial without a preliminary hearing, but it does not ascertain criminal responsibility. In the trial, the judge examines the evidence according to the rules of the process; before the trial, faculties relating to alternative procedures also remain, within the terms established by the code.
Do I have fifteen days from the date of the hearing to request the abbreviated trial?
No: notifications matter, not the hearing date. The fifteen days run from the later service of the decree on the defendant or of the notice on defence counsel, under Article 458 and Constitutional Court judgment no. 120 of 2002. Missing this deadline entails forfeiture; the later trial date does not replace it.
Can I request plea bargaining after a decree of immediate judgment?
Yes, the code contemplates it among the options to be considered. However, the request must respect the deadline and forms provided for this phase, in addition to the requirements specific to the application of penalty upon request of the parties. The judge does not automatically approve an agreement: they check the conditions required by law.
Is probation available for any offense?
No. The suspension of proceedings with probation operates only in the cases provided for by Article 168-bis of the criminal code and requires a timely request, a treatment program, and a judicial evaluation. The decree of immediate judgment does not eliminate this possibility, but it anticipates its deadline for exercise.
Can I contest the accusation directly in the trial?
Yes, the trial is the natural venue to discuss evidence. The defense can focus on facts, statements, documents, technical elements, and the legal qualification of the conduct. However, the choice to arrive at the trial must be weighed before any deadlines for alternative procedures expire.
Facing the Decree with an Informed Choice
A decree of immediate judgment requires timely decisions, not hasty conclusions. The priority is to identify the notification date, the formulated charge, the referenced acts, and the procedural options still open. If you have received the decree, you can contact me to frame the situation in light of the acts actually notified.