Getting your phone, car, money or passport back in Italy
A seizure can be challenged before a court within ten days of execution. Nobody will tell you that, and it is the deadline missed most often. Independently of the challenge, return can be requested at any time once the item is no longer needed — and once a forensic copy of a phone or laptop exists, keeping the device itself is usually contestable.
Three kinds of seizure, three different answers
| Type | Purpose | Route |
|---|---|---|
| Evidential seizure | The item is evidence of the offence | Return once the evidential need is exhausted |
| Preventive seizure | To stop the offence continuing or aggravating | Review before a court within ten days |
| Seizure with a view to confiscation | The item may be confiscated on conviction | Tied to the outcome of the case |
The first question is always which one you are facing, and it is written on the document you were given. A phone taken because messages on it matter, and a car taken because it may be confiscated, are two different situations with different arguments.
The ten days
Where the seizure is preventive, an application for review can be made within ten days of execution. It is a full examination: the court looks at whether the conditions were met at all, whether the item really relates to the alleged offence, and whether the measure is proportionate.
The same short period applies to challenging orders in this area generally. If it passes, the item is not lost, but the fast route is gone and what remains is an application for return, which takes longer and is decided on a narrower basis.
Phones and computers
These are the items people most need back, and there is a strong argument available. The evidence in a digital case is the forensic copy, not the physical object: once the copy has been made and verified, continued retention of the handset or laptop has to be justified separately.
The second argument concerns scope. A seizure relating to one episode does not authorise the exploration of years of a person's digital life, and the courts have progressively required that irrelevant material be returned or excluded. Limitation by keyword, correspondent and date range can be requested, and so can return of everything outside it.
If a copy is being made, the defence is entitled to notice where the operation cannot be repeated identically, and may appoint its own expert. The details are in the guide on cybercrime and digital evidence.
Cash and bank accounts
Cash seized at a border for a breach of the declaration obligation follows the administrative route rather than the criminal one, and part of the sum is retained as a penalty; the rest is recoverable on application.
A bank account frozen in a criminal investigation is a different matter and a far more serious one, because it is normally tied to a calculation of the supposed profit of the alleged offence. Attacking that calculation is the effective route: the amount is very often overstated, and it sets the ceiling of everything that follows.
Passports and documents
A passport may be retained as part of a precautionary measure prohibiting departure from Italy, in which case it is returned when that measure is lifted or varied. That is a different situation from a seizure of evidence, and the remedy is an application about the measure, not about the document.
If you need to travel for work or family reasons while a measure is in force, that can be applied for, and it is granted more readily where the request is specific, documented and limited.
What to do
- Get the seizure record and read what type of seizure it says.
- Count ten days from execution, not from when you found a lawyer.
- Ask for a copy of the data if a device has been taken, so you can work on the same material.
- Where a copy exists, apply for return of the device itself.
- Where a business is affected, ask for release of what is needed to keep operating: it is granted more often than it is requested.
Frequently asked questions
How long can Italian police keep my phone?
Only as long as it is needed. Once a forensic copy has been made and verified, continued retention of the device itself is usually contestable.
Can I challenge a seizure?
Yes, before a court within ten days of execution. After that the fast route is gone and only an application for return remains.
They seized cash at the airport. Can I get it back?
Where it is a breach of the declaration obligation the route is administrative: part of the sum is retained as a penalty and the rest can be recovered on application.
When do I get my passport back?
If it was retained under a measure prohibiting departure, when that measure is lifted or varied. Travel for specific documented reasons can also be applied for.
If something has been seized
The record and the date of execution decide which remedies are still open. First contact is free and covered by professional privilege.