A sentence that has been fully served may still be relevant to early-release credits where it forms part of the overall sentence resulting from recognition of a continuing offence.
In judgment No. 23811, filed on 26 June 2026, the First Criminal Division of the Italian Court of Cassation recalled that periods served under an earlier conviction linked by a continuing offence may also be assessed, provided they have not already been counted for this benefit.
Recognition of a continuing offence does not, however, permit unrestricted crediting of time served. The temporal limit under Article 657(4) of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure remains applicable: a sentence already served cannot be credited against offences committed after that period.
In the case examined, the Court dismissed the appeal because the earlier sentence had been served before the new offences were committed. It also noted that the convicted person had already received early-release credits in respect of that sentence.
For the defence, it is therefore essential to reconstruct the chronology of the offences, the periods served and the reductions already granted, to establish whether any periods remain eligible for assessment within the unified sentence.
