The defendant threatened to kill the injured party. Despite the evidence of a threat, the Justice of the Peace declared the offence extinguished.
In fact, in Italy since August, in the event of offenses prosecutable upon a private complaint, after having heard the parties and the injured party, the Judge can declare the extinguishment of the offence if the defendant proves he has fully remedied the damage through restitution and compensation.
The true innovative scope of the new reason for the extinguishment of the offence consists in the fact that the institution is applicable even if there is the opposition of the injured party, when the defendant irrevocably offers to compensate the damage and the Judge recognizes the adequacy of the offer.
In other words, even if the person who has suffered a loss as a result of the criminal conduct of the defendant disagrees, the latter may not be prosecuted.
Once again we are witnessing a reduction of what is criminally relevant and a significant interference of civil law in criminal law. We are increasingly approaching a “non-punitive, but restorative criminal justice”.
(Federica Fantuzzi – federica.fantuzzi@studiozunarelli.com )
