Extradition to Italy: the procedure and the limits
Between member states of the Union there is no extradition at all: there is the European Arrest Warrant. Outside the Union, extradition applies, and it involves a court and then a government, which is why a favourable judicial decision is a condition for surrender rather than a guarantee of it. The widespread assumption that the absence of a treaty means immunity from extradition is wrong, because Italian law allows extradition for offences no convention covers, provided no convention forbids it.
For anyone facing a request that comes from Italy, the practical consequences start at once. Lists of countries said to have no extradition arrangements are unreliable, multilateral conventions can themselves supply the legal basis, states may act on reciprocity with no agreement whatever, and removal for irregular residence can reach the same result far faster and with none of the safeguards of an extradition procedure.
Avv. Massimo Romano — Ordine degli Avvocati di Napoli n. 14553, patrocinante in Cassazione dal 23/10/2015 — Roma, Via Avicenna 97, 00146 · Milano, Via Giuseppe Pecchio 3, 20129 · Napoli, Corso Umberto I 237, 80138 — +39 335 669 3954
In brief
- Circulating lists of countries without extradition arrangements go out of date continuously, because bilateral treaties are signed, replaced and denounced all the time.
- Those lists also ignore multilateral conventions on narcotics, transnational organised crime, corruption and terrorism, several of which can themselves serve as the basis for surrender.
- A state may grant extradition on the basis of reciprocity with no agreement at all, and that decision is political before it is legal.
- Staying anywhere requires a right to be there, and removal for irregular residence follows none of the rules of extradition while reaching a similar result.
- Where a convention applies it governs, and the domestic code fills only what the convention leaves uncovered.
- Surrender of a state's own nationals, offences of a political character, the risk of persecution or ill-treatment and the death penalty are the limits that recur in every system.
- The procedure is staged: a court examines the request and the higher court reviews that examination, after which the minister takes the final decision and may still refuse.
- A judicial refusal ends the matter, which is why the judicial stage deserves the preparation it is often not given.
The myth of the country with no extradition
Lists of "countries with no extradition treaty" circulate widely and are unreliable for three technical reasons, and anyone using one to make a decision is doing so on a false basis.
- They go out of date. Bilateral treaties are signed, ratified, replaced and denounced continuously.
- They ignore multilateral conventions. Several United Nations instruments — on narcotics, transnational organised crime, corruption and terrorism — contain clauses allowing the convention itself to serve as the legal basis for extradition between states with no bilateral treaty.
- They ignore extradition outside conventions. A state may grant extradition on the basis of reciprocity with no agreement at all, and that decision is political before it is legal.
There is also a mundane obstacle that no list mentions: staying anywhere requires a right to be there. Removal for irregular residence follows none of the rules of extradition and can reach the same result far faster.
How the procedure is built
| Element | Rule | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Conventions come first | The code applies to whatever they do not cover | Art. 696 c.p.p. |
| Extradition outside conventions | Permitted unless a convention forbids it | Art. 13(4) c.p. |
| Extradition of nationals | Only where expressly allowed by convention | Art. 26 of the Constitution |
| Political offences | Never | Art. 26 of the Constitution, Art. 698 c.p.p. |
| Risk of persecution or ill-treatment | Prohibited | Art. 698 c.p.p. |
| Death penalty | Only against sufficient assurances | Art. 698 c.p.p. |
| Judicial stage | Court of appeal, then the Court of Cassation | Art. 704 ff. c.p.p. |
| Final decision | The Minister of Justice | Art. 708 c.p.p. |
The two-stage structure is the important part. A favourable judicial decision is a condition for extradition, not a guarantee of it: the Minister still decides, and may refuse. Conversely, a judicial refusal ends the matter.
What is actually argued
Extradition defences are narrow and technical, and they are stronger the earlier they are prepared.
- Dual criminality. The conduct must be an offence in both states, and the comparison is with the conduct, not the label.
- Limitation. Whether the offence is time-barred, under either or both systems, depending on the applicable instrument.
- Ne bis in idem. A final decision on the same acts elsewhere.
- Speciality. Once surrendered, the person may only be prosecuted for the offences surrendered for.
- Detention conditions and health. Where a real, individual risk can be evidenced.
- Conviction in absentia. Whether a retrial is available, which is the recurring question with Italian requests.
Provisional arrest: the fast part
A request usually begins with an urgent measure. A person can be arrested provisionally on the basis of a request for provisional arrest, often transmitted through Interpol channels, before the full documentation arrives. The formal request must then follow within the period fixed by the applicable instrument; if it does not, the person is released.
This is where an Interpol alert becomes an arrest, which is why the two subjects are so closely linked. The alert itself has its own separate route of challenge, set out in the guide on Interpol Red Notices.
Requests rest on different legal bases, and the table compares them because the basis determines what can be argued and before whom.
| Basis of the request | How it works | Limit to keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| A bilateral convention | Conditions, offences and procedure are set by the treaty itself. | Treaties are amended, replaced and denounced, so the current text must be checked. |
| A multilateral convention | The convention supplies the legal basis between states with no bilateral treaty. | It applies only to the subject matter the convention covers. |
| Reciprocity with no agreement | The requested state may act on an undertaking of equivalent treatment. | The decision is political in character and hard to predict. |
| Domestic law alone | Extradition is permitted for offences no convention covers, unless forbidden. | Constitutional limits continue to apply in full. |
| Removal for irregular residence | An immigration measure outside the extradition rules entirely. | It can reach a similar result faster and with fewer safeguards. |
When Italy is asked to extradite
The reverse situation is less discussed and just as real: a third state asks Italy to hand someone over. The same architecture applies, with the Italian court of appeal ruling first and the Minister deciding at the end, and with the constitutional limits on political offences and the death penalty operating as absolute barriers.
Frequently asked questions
If there is no treaty, can I still be extradited to Italy?
Yes. Article 13 of the Italian Criminal Code allows extradition even outside conventions, provided no convention prohibits it, and multilateral instruments often supply a legal basis of their own.
Can Italy extradite its own citizens?
Only where a convention expressly provides for it, and never for political offences: those are constitutional limits under Article 26.
Who takes the final decision?
The courts rule first, and the Minister of Justice decides at the end. A judicial refusal ends the matter; a favourable ruling does not oblige the Minister to grant it.
What is provisional arrest?
An urgent arrest before the full request arrives. If the formal documentation does not follow within the period set by the applicable instrument, the person must be released.
If a request exists
If there is a provisional arrest or a request in circulation, the position has to be mapped before any travel. First contact is free and covered by professional privilege, at any hour.
Who ends up reading about a request that comes from Italy
The most common reader is a person who has just been stopped at an airport or a border post abroad and told that the local police are acting on a request from Italy. The officer may talk about an alert, a warrant or a notice, and the detainee often cannot tell which of these it is, or whether Italy has already sent a formal request or only a message asking that the person be held. In practice the position is frequently this: a provisional arrest has been made so that the person does not leave, and Italy now has a limited period, fixed by the law of the country holding them, to deliver the formal papers. What happens next depends on what those papers say and on how the local court reads them.
A different reader is a spouse, a parent or an adult child at home. They received a short call from an unknown number, or no call at all, only a message from a colleague saying the person never arrived. They do not know in which country the person is held, which lawyer is acting, or whether any Italian office will speak to them. They want the sequence of events and the name of the right person to ask.
Another reader has seen, on a forum, that a country with no treaty with Italy is a safe place to live, and is now trying to find out whether that was ever true. It was not a reliable idea, and this page explains why. A last reader lives in Italy and has heard that another state is asking Italy to hand them over; that situation has its own section on the main page, and the points below about lawyers and documents apply to it with the roles reversed.
The procedure runs in stages and each stage settles something different, which the table sets out so that effort is spent where it still counts.
| Stage | Who decides | What that decision settles |
|---|---|---|
| Provisional arrest | The authorities of the requested state, before the full request arrives. | Whether the person is held while the documents are assembled. |
| Examination of the request | The court of appeal of the requested state. | Whether the conditions for surrender are met on the material supplied. |
| Review of that examination | The highest court of the requested state. | Whether the lower court applied the conditions correctly. |
| Final decision | The minister of justice. | Whether surrender actually takes place, since refusal remains possible. |
| Judicial refusal at any judicial stage | The courts of the requested state. | It ends the matter, and the minister never reaches it. |
The choices that cannot wait when a request is pending
Several decisions come up in the opening hours, and each has a price. They are better made with a lawyer than alone in a cell or at a police counter.
Whether to consent to surrender or to contest it. Many countries have a shortened route for a person who agrees to be sent to Italy. It is quicker and it usually ends the argument about the merits; it is also very hard to undo. Contesting keeps every argument alive, including the political character of the charge, the risk of ill-treatment and the question whether the act is also a crime locally, but it means a longer stay in custody abroad, often in conditions worse than those of an Italian remand prison. Neither path is right for everybody, and nobody should choose it on the basis of what a police officer or a cellmate says.
Whether to ask for release while the request is examined. Judges abroad look at residence, family ties, documents and the risk of flight. Asking and being refused can leave a record that is used again later; not asking leaves the person in custody for the whole procedure.
Whether to speak to Italian officials. A short statement given to an Italian magistrate through a video link or a visiting officer can be used in the Italian case. Silence has a cost too, because the Italian side then tells the story alone. The decision should follow a reading of the Italian file, not precede it.
The papers and details to gather for the lawyers on both sides
Both the local lawyer and the Italian lawyer will need the same core material, and families lose days by sending it piece by piece. Assemble it in a folder that can be forwarded by email without editing.
- Every paper the detained person was handed, photographed flat and legible, front and back. The alert, the warrant, the notice of arrest and any list of rights are all different documents, and the language on them matters.
- The passport and residence documents, plus proof of the address abroad. These are what a judge looks at when deciding on release.
- The Italian file number and the name of the court or office, if anything Italian has ever been received: a summons, a notice, a message from a lawyer. Without it, the Italian side cannot be located quickly.
- A short timeline in the family's own words: when the person travelled, when contact was lost, who was called. Keep it factual, no opinions about the Italian case.
- The name and contact details of whoever spoke to the person in detention: a visitor, a consular officer, a duty lawyer. Their recollection of the earliest conversation is useful.
- Proof of ties and work: employment letters, lease or property papers, school records of the children.
- Medical information and any regular medication, because detention facilities abroad rarely have it.
What a pending request does to work, travel and home life
An extradition request stops a life in several places simultaneously. If the person is in custody abroad, an employer will notice the absence within days, and in many jobs the absence alone ends the contract before any court has decided anything. Residence permits and visas can lapse during a long detention, which complicates a return even if the request is later refused. Rent, loan instalments and school fees keep falling due, and a household that lives on a sole income can be in difficulty within weeks.
If the person is not in custody but is on conditional release abroad, daily life is still narrowed. Passports are often surrendered, reporting at a police station may be required, and travel outside the country is ruled out. Even leaving the city for work can need permission. A person who is simply free but unaware that a request exists is also affected: bank compliance checks, visa applications and border control are the places where alerts surface, and the earliest sign is often a refused account or a held boarding pass.
Children are affected in ordinary ways that nobody warns about. A parent who is detained cannot sign school forms or collect them; a relative who steps in may need a document that authorises it, and that document may itself have to be translated and certified. Pets, cars and tenancies are small matters that become urgent. It helps to write down every recurring obligation on a sheet of paper and ask which of them a relative can take over, and which need a formal power of attorney signed by the person concerned.
Questions to put to the lawyer before the next hearing
These are the questions people do not think to ask until a deadline has passed. Put them to both lawyers if a local lawyer and an Italian lawyer are acting.
- Has Italy sent the formal request yet, and is the clock for sending it running or already expired in the country where the person is held?
- Which authority decides in the country concerned: a court only, or a court and then a government minister?
- Is there a treaty between that country and Italy, and if there is none, on what basis can Italy still ask?
- What exactly is the Italian charge, and does it correspond to an offence in the country holding the person?
- Which grounds of refusal are realistic on these facts, and which are only theoretical?
- If the person consents to surrender, what can still be argued after they are in Italy, and what is lost?
- What does the Italian decision-maker already know about the person's health, family and residence, and who is going to tell them?
- Can the Italian lawyer see the Italian file while the person is still abroad, and what can be done in Italy in parallel?
- If surrender is ordered, how long does the person remain abroad before transfer, and who tells the family when it happens?
The answers differ from country to country. A lawyer who answers all of them without asking where the person is held is not describing the real position.
Extradition defences are narrow, and the table pairs each argument that is actually run with what has to be shown and where it belongs.
| Argument | What has to be shown | Where it is raised |
|---|---|---|
| The conduct is not punishable in the requested state | That the description in the request does not match any offence there. | Before the court examining the request. |
| The offence is of a political character | The nature of the conduct and the purpose behind the prosecution. | Before the court, and again at the ministerial stage. |
| Risk of persecution or ill-treatment | Concrete material about this person and the conditions awaiting them. | Before the court, supported by reports and expert evidence. |
| Insufficiency of the material supplied | That the request lacks the documents or particulars the basis requires. | At the examination stage, by attacking the file itself. |
| Nationality or settled residence | Status, family ties and the length and nature of the stay. | Before the court and in submissions to the minister. |
| Identity has been mistaken | That the person held is not the person the request concerns. | At the earliest possible stage, with documentary proof. |
What not to do while a request is in motion
Most of the damage in these cases is done in the opening days, by people trying to help.
- Do not sign papers you cannot read. Forms handed over in a language the person does not understand can be a consent to surrender. Ask for a translation and for a lawyer before signing anything.
- Do not rely on a list of countries without extradition. Such lists age quickly and ignore multilateral conventions and domestic law that permits surrender without a treaty. Moving to such a country on the strength of a list is a decision with serious consequences.
- Do not post about the case. Social media posts are collected by both sides and read in the light of the charge. A comment about the Italian authorities can reappear as evidence of attitude or of flight.
- Do not discuss the case on prison phones or in messages. Calls from detention are recorded in most places, and messages sent by relatives are not private either.
- Do not delete messages, files or accounts. It looks like concealment, and it removes material the defence may need.
- Do not hire whichever lawyer a cellmate recommends. A lawyer abroad should be chosen by someone who can assess both the local system and the Italian side, and who has no interest in a quick consent.
- Do not travel onward to another country in the hope of avoiding the request. Alerts follow the person, and a transit stop can become a fresh arrest.
When Italy and another country both have a say
An extradition request is a conversation between legal systems that do not share a language, a calendar or a way of doing paperwork. The most immediate practical consequence is translation. Italy writes in Italian and the requested country reads in its own language, so the formal request travels with a translation that may be imperfect. Errors in names, dates and the description of the conduct have a real effect, because the local judge compares the request with what the law of that country requires. Reading both versions side by side, with someone who knows each, is part of the defence.
A further consequence is documents. Papers issued in a given country usually need to be certified before another country accepts them, and the chain of stamps takes time. A birth certificate, a marriage certificate, a power of attorney or an employment letter that was sufficient at home may be refused abroad until it is certified, and the person in custody cannot do it. Ask the lawyer early which certification the court needs and who can arrange it.
A last consequence is timing. Post between countries is slow and calls to a detention centre are only possible at set hours that depend on the facility, not on the family's time zone. Plan calls around the local day, not around when it is convenient at home. Consular officers can inform the family and check on conditions, but they do not act as lawyers, they cannot interfere with the proceedings, and they will not advise on the merits. Coordination between the Italian defender and the local lawyer matters more than any other contact, because each knows something the other does not.
How the studio works on a case that crosses a border
The work usually starts with a short message or call from a relative, a colleague or the detained person. We ask for the basics: where the person is held, what they were told, whether any Italian document exists. The engagement is confirmed in writing, together with an estimate of cost in phases, so that nobody learns the price after the work has been done. Documents can be sent as photographs or scanned files by email; there is no need to bring originals to an office to begin.
In the opening call we ask what the family already knows, what the detainee said, and who has been in touch. We explain what is going to happen in the next few days and what depends on the local lawyer. Calls and written explanations are in English or in Italian. If a relative prefers another language, they should say so at the start, so that an interpreter can be arranged for the key conversations.
The studio has offices in Rome, Milan and Naples, which matters when the Italian file sits in a different city from the person's family. Reachability is not limited to office hours, because arrests abroad do not follow them. When the person is held in another country, we work with a correspondent lawyer admitted there, who appears and files; we instruct that lawyer, keep the full picture across both systems and report to the family in a language they speak. Contact details are on this site, including the email address avvmassimoromano@gmail.com.
Italian terms you will meet on extradition papers
Papers from Italy arrive in Italian even when the rest of the file is translated. These are the words most likely to appear, explained as they are used in this kind of case.
- Estradizione: extradition, the formal handing over of a person by a state to another to be tried or to serve a sentence. Between EU countries a different mechanism is used.
- Doppia incriminazione: dual criminality. The act must be an offence in both countries, and the lawyer will check this against the facts and not only against the name of the charge.
- Reciprocità: reciprocity. Where no treaty applies, a state may still act on the expectation that the other would do the same in a comparable case.
- Convenzioni internazionali: international conventions, the treaties that regulate the procedure and that usually prevail over ordinary national rules. Their absence does not by itself stop a request.
- Reati politici: political offences, a category for which extradition is excluded. Whether a charge really falls within it is argued on the facts, not on the label used by the person accused.
- Persecuzione: persecution, a reason that can bar surrender when there is reason to think the person would be treated unfairly because of who they are.
- Richiesta: the formal request sent by the state asking for the person, which must be accompanied by the supporting documents.
- Ricorso: an appeal or application against a decision, with its own deadline printed on the paper that announces the decision.
About the lawyer
People write to this office from places where Italian is not spoken, and often with documents they cannot read. That is the starting point of the work rather than an obstacle to it. Avv. Massimo Romano practises criminal law and appears before the Court of Cassation; alongside ordinary Italian proceedings he deals with surrender requests, extradition, and the situation of foreign nationals facing charges in Italy. Send or read out what you have: a notice, a receipt from a search, the name of the prison, a lawyer's letter in another language. He will tell you what the document is and what it obliges you to do. The call is followed by a written note setting out what the office can take on, how the file will be handled between Rome, Milan and Naples, and who in the family will be kept informed. Those conversations are held in English whenever that is what the family needs.
Write on WhatsApp or call. Have ready the identity details of the person concerned and a photograph of every page you have received, in whatever language it is written.
Avv. Massimo Romano — criminal defence lawyer, admitted to the Italian Court of Cassation
Iscritto all'Ordine degli Avvocati di Napoli n. 14553 | Patrocinante in Cassazione dal 23/10/2015
Roma, Via Avicenna 97, 00146 · Milano, Via Giuseppe Pecchio 3, 20129 · Napoli, Corso Umberto I 237, 80138
+39 335 669 3954 · WhatsApp