Italian police and courts: who is who

How mixing up the forces and offices wastes days and puts a person at risk

Confusion between the police and the courts has practical costs. A family that goes to the wrong building loses hours that may matter, and a person who thinks the "police" are handling a case, when the prosecutor is, makes decisions on wrong assumptions.

Finding a person. A relative in custody is held by a specific force, and that force knows where the person is. Calling a general police number often produces nothing. The type of uniform at the arrest tells you which force it was. A person taken by a given force may be moved to premises of another, and may be transferred to a prison run by a different body.

Filing papers. A request, an appeal or a medical certificate has to reach the right office within a deadline. Delivering it to a police station when it belonged at a court office is not delivery at all.

Work and travel. An employer or a consulate will ask which authority is involved. Giving the wrong authority causes mistrust and delay.

Understanding the stage. Whether you are dealing with an officer who writes a report or a prosecutor who decides what to do changes how you react. A police officer collects facts, and cannot decide guilt. The prosecutor directs the investigation, and a judge decides.

Family stress. Relatives who do not know which building to go to are made more anxious. A simple map of who does what lowers the temperature and allows the family to act methodically.

Complaints and visits. Many people go to a police station to complain about a decision of a court. The station cannot help.

People trying to locate a case or a person in the Italian system

This page is read mostly by people who are looking for somebody or something. The situations are practical and often urgent.

A family abroad has been told a relative was "arrested by the police" in an Italian town. They do not know whether it was the national police, the military police that operates across the country, the financial police or the municipal police. They have no idea what the next step is, and in particular whether the person is in a station, a barracks or a prison.

A traveller has been given a paper with the heading of a force and a stamp from an office, and cannot tell whether it is a fine, a summons or a notice from a prosecutor.

A business owner has had a visit from uniformed officers who describe themselves with a name the owner has never heard. They want to know whether the officers have the authority to enter and to take documents, and who to call.

A victim of a crime has reported to a given force and is told the case is with a prosecutor's office. The victim does not know how to ask about progress.

A journalist, a student or a lawyer from abroad is trying to follow an Italian case and is confused by words that look the same in translation. In each case, the answer begins with knowing which institution is which.

Documents and information that help you find the right office

To locate a case or a person, you need a few details. Gather them, because they allow the right office to be identified quickly.

• The full name, date and place of birth of the person, spelt as on the passport. Differences in spelling cause failed searches.
• The place, date and approximate time of the arrest or the event. Offices are organised by territory, and the place decides the office.
• The uniform or the name on any paper: Polizia di Stato, Arma dei Carabinieri, Guardia di Finanza, Polizia Locale or Polizia Penitenziaria. This tells you which body acted.
• The heading, stamp and signature on any document, photographed in full, including the office name and number.
• Any reference number or file number on the paper. This is the key to the case.
• The name of the officer or the station, if the person could tell you.
• The name of any lawyer already appointed, and their contact details.
• Any envelope, receipt or delivery slip, which shows who sent the paper and when it arrived.
• A note of what was said, in the language it was said, with the time.

Offer these details to the lawyer, who can contact the right office directly. Calling several offices yourself tends to generate confusion, because each answers only for its own area.

Choices to make while you still do not know which office has the case

When a relative is taken or a paper arrives, the pressure is to act in the next few minutes, and that is when the institutional confusion costs most. Several choices recur, and each has a price.

Go to a building, or telephone beforehand. Families often head for the nearest police station or the courthouse, on the assumption that the person is there. The price of going is hours lost and an anxious family at a counter that cannot help. The price of telephoning beforehand, to a general number, is a vague answer that sounds like a refusal. A better course is to establish which force made the arrest by asking whoever called you, then to ask the lawyer to contact that force directly, since officers speak more readily to a lawyer than to a stranger.

Deliver your papers in person, or send them through the lawyer. A document handed over at the wrong counter may be accepted politely and never reach the file. The price of a delay while the lawyer identifies the right office is small compared with the price of a deadline missed because a paper was left in the wrong building. Ask for a stamped receipt every time.

Speak to the officer in front of you, or wait for a lawyer. An officer who arrests is a witness and a reporter of facts, not an adviser, and anything you say may be written down. The price of waiting is a more formal atmosphere; the price of talking is a statement made before you understand who will read it.

Tell the consulate, or keep it out. Telling it helps to locate a person. Say only what is needed.

Behaviour that causes trouble when you deal with police and courts

Mistakes about the institutions lead to avoidable harm. Avoid the following.

• Do not ask the police to decide a matter that belongs to a judge. An officer cannot cancel a measure, change a date or give legal advice.
• Do not hand papers to the wrong office and assume they are filed. Ask for a stamped receipt, and check that the office is the office named in the notice.
• Do not speak to an officer about the facts without a lawyer, thinking that a friendly conversation is off the record.
• Do not assume that all uniforms have the same powers. Ask politely which force an officer belongs to and what the officer is doing.
• Do not rely on information from a police switchboard about the progress of a case. The case is with the prosecutor, who answers through proper channels.
• Do not try to speak to a judge or a prosecutor informally. Approaches should go through the lawyer.
• Do not ignore a paper because it looks like a routine notice. Many notices carry deadlines.
• Do not post photographs of officers or documents online.

If you do not understand a paper, photograph it and send it to the lawyer. The heading usually answers the question of who sent it, and with that answer the next step becomes clear.

Treat each office politely and briefly, and keep a note of whom you spoke to and when. A calm, accurate record helps the lawyer to trace what was said and to correct any misunderstanding with the right authority.

Questions to ask when you are trying to locate a case or a person

These questions help the lawyer get to the right place quickly, and they are worth asking at the start.

• Which force made the arrest or issued the paper, and where is its office?
• Is the person at a police station, a barracks, a court building or a prison?
• Has the case reached the prosecutor's office, and which office is it?
• Has a judge been asked to decide on detention, and when is the next decision?
• Who is the person's lawyer, and how can I contact them?
• Which paper starts a deadline for me, and from what date does it run?
• Where should I deliver a document, and how do I prove delivery?
• Can I visit, send money or deliver belongings, and to which body do I apply?
• Can the consulate help locate the person, and what does it need from me?

Write down the names of the offices as the lawyer gives them. A family that can name the right office, in Italian, is taken seriously and gets answers faster.

Ask also how long each office usually takes to answer, and whether a written request is better than a call. Offices are organised by territory and have fixed opening hours, so a short written request sent through the lawyer often moves faster than repeated calls from the family.

Police and courts for people whose case sits between Italy and another country

Foreigners and people with cross-border cases meet the system through an additional lens, and the translation of institution names is a recurring hazard.

English words such as "police", "magistrate" and "court" cover many different Italian bodies. A "magistrate" in English may be a lay judge of a lower court, while an Italian magistrate may be a prosecutor or a judge of a major court. Do not map Italian offices on to English titles without checking.

When a foreign authority or a consulate asks which Italian body acted, name the force and the office exactly, using the Italian words, and add an English description. A consulate can contact the Italian authorities only if it knows which authority to ask.

Documents travel across borders with a stamp or a seal that only the issuing office can supply. When a paper from an Italian office is to be used abroad, ask the lawyer how to obtain it in a form that the foreign authority will accept, with a translation.

Time zones and office hours matter. Italian offices have fixed opening hours and close early in the afternoon. A call from another continent at the wrong time yields nothing.

Foreign lawyers can help to explain the structure, but only an Italian lawyer can act before the Italian authorities. Agree who contacts which office, so that offices do not receive conflicting requests.

Italian terms for the forces and offices

These are the names you will find on papers, uniforms and buildings. They appear on this page and are used throughout the Italian system.

• Polizia di Stato: the civilian national police, active in cities, on public order, at borders and in immigration matters.
• Arma dei Carabinieri: a force with military status and general jurisdiction across the territory.
• Guardia di Finanza: the financial and customs police, dealing with tax, customs, smuggling and financial crime.
• Polizia Locale: the municipal police, for traffic and local rules, with some criminal functions.
• Polizia Penitenziaria: the prison police, responsible for custody inside prisons.
• Questura: the provincial headquarters of the Polizia di Stato. It is police, not a court.
• Caserma: the barracks or station of the Carabinieri.
• Procura: the prosecutor's office, which directs investigations and brings charges.
• Tribunale: the court where cases are tried and where judges decide on measures.
• Magistrato: a member of the judiciary, either a prosecutor or a judge.

When a word is missing from this list, photograph the paper and send it to the lawyer. Knowing who wrote a document is much of understanding it.

Some further points help when you read the papers. A prosecutor and a judge are both magistrates, but the prosecutor is a party who investigates and accuses, while the judge is neutral and decides. And a questura is a police headquarters, not a court: relatives who are told that a person is "at the questura" should not look for a hearing there.

How the firm helps you find and deal with the right office

The firm spends a good part of its time on a particular task: finding out who has the person or the file, and what they are allowed to do. Contact begins by email to avvmassimoromano@gmail.com or by the number on the contact page. Send the name, the place, the date and any paper or photograph you have.

The initial call is used to identify the force, the station and the office, and to establish the stage. The lawyer contacts the right office directly, confirms where a person is held, and tells you what can be done. If you hold a paper and do not know who sent it, the lawyer reads the heading and explains what it is, in English.

The firm prepares and files documents with the correct office, obtains stamped receipts, and keeps track of the dates that follow. Where a cross-border element exists, the firm coordinates with a lawyer abroad and with the consulate, so that each body receives the same, accurate information.

Offices are in Rome, Milan and Naples, and the firm works with colleagues in other cities, because the competent office depends on where the event occurred. Meetings are held in person or by video, and conversations are in English.

The lawyer is reachable around the clock for urgent situations, such as an arrest or a search, when the question of which authority is acting must be answered immediately.