Fights and assault in Italy: how the charges are graded
Italian law does not have a single offence of assault. It has a scale, and the step that matters is whether an injury resulted. Striking someone without causing any injury carries up to six months or a fine and is prosecuted only on complaint; the moment a medical certificate records any injury at all, the offence becomes lesioni personali, starting at six months.
The scale
| Offence | Penalty | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Percosse — striking without injury | Up to six months or a fine, on complaint | Art. 581 Criminal Code |
| Lesioni personali — injury caused | Six months to three years | Art. 582 |
| Serious and very serious injury | Separate, heavier brackets | Art. 583 |
| Affray — a fight between several people | A fine; far heavier if injury or death results | Art. 588 |
| Threats | A fine, or up to one year if serious | Art. 612 |
| Coercion | Violence or threats used to force conduct | Art. 610 |
The medical certificate is therefore the document the whole case is built on. The number of days of recovery recorded on it determines the bracket, whether prosecution requires a complaint, and how the case can end.
The complaint, and withdrawing it
Most of these offences are prosecuted only if the injured person files a complaint, within three months of learning of the facts. That has two consequences worth knowing.
First, the deadline. A complaint filed late cannot support a prosecution, and the date has to be checked rather than assumed. Second, withdrawal: where the offence is prosecuted on complaint, withdrawal extinguishes it entirely. Compensation and a withdrawn complaint end many of these cases outright, and that route closes once the matter moves further along.
Self-defence, and what happens when it goes too far
Italian law recognises self-defence where there is a present danger of an unjust harm, the defence is necessary and the response is proportionate. Where all three are present, no offence is committed.
Where the situation genuinely existed but the limits were exceeded through misjudgement, the law does not treat it as intentional violence: the offence becomes a negligent one, with far lighter penalties. That intermediate step is missed by defendants and prosecutors alike, and moving a case into it changes the outcome dramatically.
The evidence for it disappears quickly. Photographs of injuries suffered by the person who defended themselves — routinely neglected, because they seem beside the point — CCTV footage, and the accounts of anyone present, are what the argument rests on.
The typical case
It is almost always the same one: late at night, alcohol on both sides, an argument outside a bar, both parties file complaints, and both are simultaneously suspect and injured party. In that situation the sequence of events is the whole case, and it is decided by what the officers wrote down in the first hour.
- Get a medical certificate for your own injuries, even minor ones, the same night.
- Identify witnesses and note where cameras are: footage is overwritten within days.
- Do not discuss the incident on social media or in messages to the other party.
- Do not sign an Italian record you have not had translated.
What makes it worse
Certain factors move a case out of the ordinary range: the use of a weapon or any object capable of causing injury, several people acting together, and offences committed against public officials — where a separate charge of resisting a public official may be added, with its own bracket and its own aggravating circumstances.
Frequently asked questions
Is punching someone a crime in Italy?
Yes. Without injury it is percosse, up to six months or a fine and only on complaint. With any recorded injury it becomes lesioni personali, starting at six months.
If the other person withdraws the complaint, does the case end?
Where the offence is prosecuted on complaint, withdrawal extinguishes it. That is why compensation combined with withdrawal resolves many of these cases.
How long do they have to file a complaint?
Three months from learning of the facts. A complaint filed after that cannot support a prosecution, so the date should always be checked.
What if I was defending myself?
Self-defence excludes liability where the danger was present, the defence necessary and the response proportionate. Where the limits were exceeded through misjudgement, the offence becomes a negligent one instead.
If a complaint has been filed
The medical certificate, the date of the complaint and the record of the incident decide the case. First contact is free and covered by professional privilege.