The Red Code concerns criminal proceedings in which promptness can be decisive for the safety of the victim and, at the same time, for the correct exercise of the defense of the accused person. If you are looking for criminal assistance in Milan for acts of domestic or gender-based violence, it is easy to wonder what happens after a complaint is filed, whether the hearing actually takes place within three days, what protections are possible, and what receiving an act as a suspect entails.
I want to clarify these steps without confusing a report with a conviction, nor urgency with automatic protection. We will see what identifies the Red Code path, which facts affect protective measures, and why both the victim and the suspect must avoid impulsive decisions. If there is a current danger, the priority is to immediately contact emergency services and the competent authorities.
What the Red Code is and when it applies
The Red Code is not a single crime. It is the name used to indicate the set of amendments introduced by law no. 69 of July 19, 2019, to provide more timely handling of proceedings relating to certain crimes of domestic and gender-based violence. The law entered into force on August 9, 2019, and affected both criminal law, investigations, and protective measures. You can consult the text of law no. 69 of 2019 in the Official Gazette.
Priority depends on the hypothesized crime. The path concerns, among others, facts that can be traced back to mistreatment against family members or cohabitants, stalking, sexual assault, specific instances of bodily harm, and other offenses identified by the code of criminal procedure. A couple's argument, a conflicted separation, or an offensive message do not automatically fall under the Red Code: concrete conduct capable of constituting the crime considered by the law is required.
A complaint does not prove liability. The registration of the proceeding and urgent handling serve to allow timely investigations when there may be a risk of repetition or aggravation. The victim has the right to be informed and protected within the established limits; the suspect retains the right to appoint a defense counsel, inspect the files when the law allows, and contest the accusation in the designated forums. Security and the right to defense must proceed together.
Initial hearing within three days
The three-day deadline concerns the initial hearing. In the proceedings indicated by Article 362, paragraph 1-ter, of the code of criminal procedure, the public prosecutor must take statements from the victim and from the person who filed the complaint, formal complaint, or request within three days of the registration of the crime report. A Public Prosecutor's Office summarizes the operational meaning of this compliance in its own information page on the Red Code. The provision allows exceptions for indispensable needs to protect minors or investigative confidentiality, including in the victim’s interest, as specified by Article 362(1-ter) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Three days do not equal a final decision. The deadline does not guarantee an arrest, an eviction from the family home, a restraining order, or the closure of the investigations. After the initial hearing, the judicial authority and judicial police must verify the account, gather the available elements, and evaluate whether the prerequisites for urgent measures or a request to the judge are met.
The account must remain concrete. To explain what is happening, legal formulas are not necessary: conduct, its sequence, places, communications, presences, possible threats, witnesses, and the consequences suffered are what matter. Saying that a relationship was difficult may be important as context, but it does not replace the description of a specific fact. Similarly, for the accused, a generic denial does not clarify dates, messages, or specific circumstances.
Protective measures: eviction, distance, and prohibition of contact
Precautionary measures are not automatic. The judge may order limitations on personal freedom only in the cases and under the conditions provided by law. Eviction from the family home, the restraining order, and other measures do not represent an anticipated penalty: they are provisions adopted in the proceeding to prevent risks that the law considers relevant while investigations are still ongoing.
The restraining order has precise prescriptions. Article 282-ter of the code of criminal procedure allows the judge to prohibit approaching places habitually frequented by the victim or to impose a distance from the person or the places themselves. The current text establishes a distance of not less than one thousand meters and also allows the prohibition of communicating by any means. The content of Article 282-ter c.p.p. on Normattiva shows why it is not enough to know that a measure exists: all its prescriptions must be read.
The text of the order prevails over personal initiatives. The act may indicate protected persons, forbidden places, distance to maintain, prohibition to call or write, and special arrangements for work or housing needs. Even contact presented as clarification, pacification, or retrieval of items can violate the measure if it does not comply with what was ordered by the judge. The same caution applies to messages sent through friends, relatives, or other intermediaries.
Electronic monitoring does not solve every practical problem. Remote monitoring methods can accompany the restraining order, but they do not authorize the recipient to decide independently where to go or when to communicate. If housing, the workplace, or child management makes it difficult to comply with the prescription, the issue must be addressed in the appropriate procedural forms, not with a direct meeting or an exemption devised by the parties.
Complaint, formal complaint, and police commissioner warning
Complaints and formal complaints have different functions. A report brings a crime notice to the authority; a formal complaint, when required by law, also expresses the victim's will that criminal proceedings be pursued. It is incorrect to choose one or the other based solely on the name of the problem: prosecutability, deadlines, and the possibility of remission depend on the contestable crime, circumstances, and any aggravating factors.
The warning is a preventive tool. It is neither a sentence nor a conviction. In the presence of the prerequisites established by law, the victim can ask the police commissioner for a warning for stalking or for the unlawful dissemination of sexually explicit images or videos prior to filing a formal complaint. For facts attributable to domestic violence, the commissioner can proceed even in the absence of a formal complaint based on a non-anonymous report, after the necessary investigations.
Domestic violence does not coincide with cohabitation alone. The discipline also considers acts of physical, sexual, psychological, or economic violence committed within the family, the family unit, or between persons linked by marriage or an affective relationship, even if the relationship has ended and there is no longer a common residence. Law no. 168 of November 24, 2023, strengthened this framework of prevention and protection: the relative text is available in law no. 168 of 2023 in the Official Gazette.
The choice does not depend on perceived severity alone. In a situation of current danger, waiting for a preventive path may not be adequate. Conversely, the warning should not be confused with a way to automatically obtain a criminal precautionary measure. Detailed facts and a tool consistent with the objective are needed: stopping insistent contacts, reporting violent conduct, requesting urgent protection, or exercising defense guarantees in an already initiated proceeding.
Facts and documents that change the assessment
Chronology can change the legal classification. An isolated episode and a succession of controls, threats, aggressions, or unwanted contacts raise different questions. It is useful to distinguish what happens before and after the end of the relationship, any periods without contact, compliance with previous distance requests, and the practical consequences on the life of the person involved. It is not enough to label conduct as jealousy, conflict, or provocation to understand its criminal significance.
A document is useful if it proves a precise fact. Complete messages, lawfully available recordings, photographs, medical reports, certificates, calls, reports, and statements from witnesses can help when they allow placing conduct in time and understanding its content. Screenshots selected without the preceding or following conversation can instead alter the context. Keeping the original and the sequence is often more useful than gathering materials in a disordered manner.
New occasions for conflict must not be created. The victim should not expose themselves to risky meetings to obtain evidence or clarifications; the suspect should not seek direct contacts to explain their version. Deleting conversations, modifying files, using other people's profiles, or provoking a reaction can worsen the problem and make a reliable reconstruction more difficult. The proceeding evaluates the facts that occurred, not the labels each person attributes to the other.
The defense of those receiving a notice or a measure
Being a suspect does not mean being guilty. It means that there is a proceeding in which an informed defense and compliance with the received acts are necessary. A summons, a notice of investigation, or a precautionary measure have different contents and effects; ignoring them or responding impulsively to the victim is not a defensive strategy.
The measure must be respected even if it is contested. Anyone who considers a restraining order or an eviction unjust must still observe the prescriptions as long as the measure remains effective or is modified in the prescribed forms. Any need to retrieve belongings, reach the workplace, talk about children, or recover documents does not authorize unilateral initiatives.
The defense requires a verifiable response. The complete sequence of communications, data on places and times, present persons, pre-existing relationships, and the precise content of the allegations may be relevant. It is not useful to turn every accusation into a reciprocal accusation without addressing the contested fact. When a measure exists, the first point remains avoiding any violation; only afterward is it possible to discuss proportionality, concrete needs, and the reliability of the gathered elements in the appropriate forums.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Red Code guarantee a protective measure within three days?
No: the three days concern the initial hearing. The public prosecutor must promptly take information in the proceedings provided by Article 362, paragraph 1-ter, c.p.p. The deadline does not automatically guarantee arrest, eviction, a restraining order, or the conclusion of investigations. Measures depend on the prerequisites provided by law and the available elements.
Can I request a warning without filing a formal complaint?
In some situations, yes. The police commissioner's warning can be requested before a formal complaint for offenses for which the law provides it, such as stalking. For domestic violence, there is specific discipline that can allow intervention even without a formal complaint. However, it is not a tool to be used in place of an urgent request for help if there is a current danger.
Does the restraining order prevent all communication?
It depends on the content of the ordinance. The judge can prohibit approaching persons and places, impose a distance, and prohibit communications by any means. It is necessary to check protected persons, places, distance, modalities for work or housing, and any further prescriptions. If the provision does not allow contact, it is not prudent to interpret the other person's silence as consent.
If we no longer live together, is domestic violence excluded?
No, current cohabitation is not always necessary. The discipline of domestic violence also considers persons linked in the past by marriage or an affective relationship, even without a common residence. This does not mean that every conflict between ex-partners constitutes a crime: concrete conduct and the requirements of the applicable offense must be established.
If I am a suspect, should I immediately explain my version to the victim?
No, direct contact can be risky. A suspect has the right to defend themselves with a counsel and in the forms provided by the proceeding, but must not seek personal clarifications if limits or a precautionary measure exist. The priority is to understand the received act, comply with every prescription, and base the response on controllable elements.
Navigating between protection and defense
Precision avoids errors that can have serious consequences. For the victim, it is important to report the facts without minimizing them and without exposing themselves to further risks; for the suspect, it is essential to immediately respect any prescriptions and not seek direct solutions with the protected person. When personal safety, children, housing, or a precautionary measure are involved, I can help you understand the meaning of the acts and the legal options concretely available in Milan.