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All 218 guides: Italian criminal law in English
Everything published on this site, grouped by subject. Each guide states the deadline that applies, where there is one.
218 guides · updated 2026-08-06
Emergency and arrest
12 guides
- Alternatives to prison in Italy: serving a sentence outside
- Arrested abroad in Europe: the first 96 hours
- Arrested at an Italian airport: the three situations
- Arrested in Italy: what happens in the first 96 hours
- Arrests at sea, in ports and on board ships
- When a relative dies in Italy and an investigation opens
- House arrest in Italy: the rules that actually apply
- How long pre-trial detention can last in Italy
- Prison in Italy: rights, conditions and remedies
- Someone in your family has been arrested abroad
- A relative has been arrested in Italy: what to do today
- Stopped by Italian police: what you must do and what you need not
Italian criminal procedure
18 guides
- Appealing a conviction in Italy: appeal and Cassation
- You have discovered an Italian case you knew nothing about
- Defence investigations in Italy: the powers nobody uses
- Ending an Italian case early: which route, and what it costs
- Interpreters and translation in Italian proceedings
- Italian criminal law for readers from common law systems
- Italian criminal procedure explained for English speakers
- What is this Italian legal document you received?
- Italian criminal law terms explained in English
- Italian police and courts: who is who
- Limitation periods in Italy: when a case can no longer proceed
- Mental capacity in Italian criminal law: from assessment to REMS
- It is not me, or it was years ago: identity and old cases
- There is no bail in Italy: what exists instead
- Summoned as a witness in Italy: what it means
- Taking an Italian case to the European Court of Human Rights
- What actually happens at an Italian trial
- Giving evidence when you have something to lose
Offences and defences
61 guides
- Offences against animals in Italy: what changed in 2025
- Art and cultural property offences in Italy
- Fights and assault in Italy: how the charges are graded
- Bribery and corruption charges in Italy
- Renovating property in Italy: when building work becomes a crime
- You bought something stolen or counterfeit in Italy
- Cannabis in Europe: what is actually permitted, country by country
- Cash, goods and customs at Italian borders
- Charged together with someone else: joint liability in Italy
- Controlled deliveries and undercover operations: where the line is
- Criminal charges and your right to remain in Italy
- Money laundering across borders: how these cases run
- Crypto and digital asset investigations in Italy
- Cybercrime charges in Italy and digital evidence
- Darknet drug cases: parcels, wallets and attribution
- Data protection as a criminal matter in Italy
- Doping and sports fraud charges in Italy
- Driving licences in Italy: conversion, expiry and driving without one
- Drug arrest in Germany: cannabis left the narcotics act in 2024
- Drug arrest in Spain: an offence against public health
- Drug arrest in Sweden: where using is itself an offence
- Drug arrest in the Czech Republic: the most permissive, within limits
- Drug arrest in the Netherlands: the Opium Act and two lists
- Drug charges in Italy: what foreign visitors get wrong
- Drug couriers and body packers: the airport cases
- Drug driving in Italy: the rules changed in 2024
- Drug trafficking association: article 74 and encrypted evidence
- Drink driving in Italy: what a foreign driver faces
- Immigration and labour exploitation offences in Italy
- Enforcing a debt in Italy: where it becomes extortion
- Reporting something that did not happen: what it costs
- Financial crime in Italy: what a foreign company faces
- Fire in Italy: when negligence becomes a criminal charge
- Food and product fraud charges in Italy
- Accused of fraud in Italy: what has to be proved
- Gambling and betting offences in Italy
- Homicide and serious violence charges in Italy
- Insolvency offences in Italy: what directors are charged with
- Legal where you live, a crime in Italy
- Mafia association charges in Italy: article 416-bis
- Medical negligence as a criminal charge in Italy
- Minors in Italian criminal proceedings: what parents need to know
- Neighbours, noise and entering property: the criminal side
- Police warnings and preventive measures in Italy
- Precursor chemicals and clandestine laboratories in Europe
- Prostitution in Italy: not a crime, and almost everything around it is
- Protests, football matches and public order offences
- Public order offences: resisting, insulting, refusing to identify
- Road accidents in Italy: when it becomes a criminal case
- Sexual offence allegations in Italy: the framework
- Stalking and domestic violence charges in Italy
- Students charged in Italy: the case and the consequences
- Tax offences in Italy: thresholds, and paying to avoid punishment
- Terrorism and security charges in Italy
- Theft and shoplifting in Italy: how serious is it really
- Holding someone, or forcing them: restraint and coercion
- US service members and Italian criminal jurisdiction
- Usury in Italy: the rate is fixed by law, not by agreement
- Victim of a crime in Italy: reporting and claiming
- Weapons and knives in Italy: what you must not carry
- Workplace safety and environmental prosecutions in Italy
Europe: EAW, extradition, Red Notice
103 guides
- Arrested in Abu Dhabi: the same law, a different setting
- Arrested in Algeciras: the Strait, the port and the crossing to Africa
- Arrested in Algiers: custody, the prosecutor and the consulate
- Arrested in Alicante: the airport and the resident community
- Arrested in Amsterdam: nine hours, then three days
- Arrested in Antwerp: the port, and what follows from it
- Arrested in Athens: 24 hours to the investigating judge
- Arrested in Barcelona: 72 hours, and what decides them
- Arrested in Basel: three borders in one city
- Arrested in Benalmádena: families, the marina and the hills
- Arrested in Benidorm: the resort season and the residents
- Arrested in Berlin: before a judge by the end of the next day
- Arrested in Bern: the federal capital
- Arrested in Bordeaux: wine, the port and the estuary
- Arrested in Bratislava: 48 hours, then the court's 48
- Arrested in Bremen: the port, the river and the Freimarkt
- Arrested in Brussels: 48 hours to see the investigating judge
- Arrested in Bucharest: 24 hours, then the judge decides
- Arrested in Budapest: 72 hours, and the motion that must be filed
- Arrested in Cairo: the prosecution decides, and it renews
- Arrested in Casablanca: garde à vue and the Moroccan clock
- Arrested in Cologne: Carnival, the Rhine and the cathedral
- Arrested in Copenhagen: 24 hours, and the preliminary hearing
- Arrested in Dortmund: football, the Ruhr and the stadium
- Arrested in Dresden: the Czech border and the old town
- Arrested in Dubai: 48 hours, and the travel ban that follows
- Arrested in Dublin: Garda detention and a common law system
- Arrested in Duisburg: the inland port and the freight corridor
- Arrested in Düsseldorf: trade fairs, the old town and business
- Arrested in Essen: the Ruhr, logistics and industry
- Arrested in Estepona: the marina, the port and the coast road
- Arrested in Frankfurt: the airport, the banks and the station quarter
- Arrested in Fuengirola: a resident town, not a resort
- Arrested in Geneva: institutions, borders and finance
- Arrested in Graz: a student city and a transit route
- Arrested in Hamburg: the port, the Reeperbahn and the airport
- Arrested in Hanover: trade fairs and the motorway crossroads
- Arrested in Ibiza: clubs, quantities and the season
- Arrested in La Línea: the Gibraltar border and the Strait
- Arrested in the Canary Islands: the Atlantic route and the season
- Arrested in Lausanne: the lake, the schools and Swiss procedure
- Arrested in Leipzig: the freight hub, the students and the protests
- Arrested in Liège: the corridor, the airport and the language
- Arrested in Lille: the Belgian border and the crossroads
- Arrested in Cyprus: 24 hours to court, then the remand order
- Arrested in Lisbon: 48 hours, and a drug law unlike any other
- Arrested in Ljubljana: 48 hours, and a long wait afterwards
- Arrested in Lugano: Italian spoken, Swiss law applied
- Arrested in Luxembourg: 24 hours, and the investigating judge
- Arrested in Lyon: a business city on the Alpine corridor
- Arrested in Madrid: the capital and the Audiencia Nacional
- Arrested in Málaga: the airport, the port and the coast
- Arrested in Marbella: assets, allegations and international files
- Arrested in Marrakech: tourism, the medina and the riads
- Arrested in Marseille: the port, the estates and the drug economy
- Arrested in Mijas: property, planning and the inland community
- Arrested in Montpellier: students, the coast and the A9
- Arrested in Munich: Bavaria, the Oktoberfest and the airport
- Arrested in Nantes: the estuary, the port and the students
- Arrested in Nice: the Riviera, the airport and the season
- Arrested in Nuremberg: Bavaria, the markets and the corridor
- Arrested in Palma and Mallorca: the season and the marinas
- Arrested in Paris: garde à vue and what follows
- Arrested in Perpignan: the Spanish border and the corridor
- Arrested in Prague: 72 hours, split between police and judge
- Arrested in Reims: champagne, the motorway and the region
- Arrested in Rennes: a student city and a regional centre
- Arrested in Riga: 72 hours of police custody
- Arrested in Rotterdam: Europe's largest port
- Arrested in Salzburg: festivals, skiing and the border
- Arrested in Seville: festivals, the river and the old town
- Arrested in Sofia: 72 hours to get you before a court
- Arrested in Stockholm: four days to the detention hearing
- Arrested in Stuttgart: industry, emissions and the Volksfest
- Arrested in Tallinn: 48 hours, and only a judge can arrest
- Arrested in Tangier: the Strait, the port and the crossing
- Arrested in Tarifa: fourteen kilometres from Africa
- Arrested in The Hague: courts, institutions and the coast
- Arrested in Torremolinos: nightlife and the seafront
- Arrested in Torrevieja and the Orihuela Costa
- Arrested in Toulouse: aerospace, students and the south-west
- Arrested in Tunis: the 2016 reform and what it gave you
- Arrested in Valencia: the port, the beach and Fallas
- Arrested in Vienna: 48 hours, then the judge decides
- Arrested in Vilnius: 48 hours, and a six-month ceiling
- Arrested in Warsaw: 48 hours, then 24 more for the court
- Arrested in Zagreb: 48 hours, and a six-hour right of appeal
- Arrested in Zurich: 48 hours, then the detention judge
- Drugs at sea: boarding, jurisdiction and the routes
- European Arrest Warrant: how surrender works and how it is resisted
- Europol, joint teams and what they can actually do
- Extradition to Italy: the procedure and the limits
- International arrest warrant in Belgium: the investigating judge first
- International arrest warrant in Germany: the higher regional court
- International arrest warrant in Italy: two systems, two defences
- International arrest warrant in the Netherlands: one chamber decides
- International arrest warrant in Spain: the Audiencia Nacional
- Arrest warrants in Switzerland: extradition, not surrender
- Interpol Red Notice: how it works and how it is removed
- Pre-trial detention abroad: the rule nobody uses
- Prosecuted in two countries for the same facts
- Serving an Italian sentence in your own country
- How a case with a local lawyer and an Italian one is run
Costs, lawyers and practical matters
24 guides
- Arrested in Bari: the ferries to Greece and Albania
- Arrested in Bologna: a student city on the motorway spine
- Arrested in Catania: the port, the airport and Sigonella
- Arrested in Florence: students, art and the historic centre
- Arrested in Genoa: the port and the container traffic
- Arrested in Palermo: the anti-mafia district and the port
- Arrested in Pisa: the airport, the university and Camp Darby
- Arrested in Rimini: the summer season and the clubs
- Arrested in Turin: industry, demonstrations and the Alps
- Arrested in Venice: a city with rules of its own
- Arrested in Verona: the Brenner corridor and the festival season
- Arrested near Aviano: US Air Force personnel and Italian courts
- Arrested near Sigonella: US Navy personnel in Sicily
- Arrested near Vicenza: US Army personnel and Italian courts
- Compensation for wrongful detention in Italy
- Italian corporate criminal liability: the model that defends you
- English speaking criminal lawyer in Milan
- English speaking criminal lawyer in Naples
- English speaking criminal lawyer in Rome
- Getting your phone, car, money or passport back in Italy
- Hiring an Italian criminal lawyer from abroad
- Italian correspondent counsel for foreign law firms
- After an Italian conviction: record, rehabilitation, serving at home
- Lawyer-client confidentiality in Italy: what is protected