Italian Supreme Court, Criminal Division VI, judgment no. 34812, hearing 18 September 2026, filed 29 September 2026

Judgment no. 34812/2026 addresses the constituent elements of the offence of refusal to perform official duties, with particular reference to the activity of the public prosecutor.

For the purposes of Article 328(1) of the Criminal Code, the act that must be performed without delay for reasons of justice must be mandatory, at least as regards the obligation to issue or perform it. Procedural or investigative acts that presuppose discretionary assessments by the public prosecutor therefore fall outside the offence, even where they may appear necessary in light of the development of the case.

The Court further held that Article 358 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which requires the public prosecutor to investigate facts and circumstances favourable to the person under investigation, does not transform every investigative omission into a criminal refusal to act. A breach of that rule does not, by itself, amount to the offence under Article 328 of the Criminal Code.

From a defence perspective, the ruling is significant because it defines the boundary between criminal liability and investigative choices and reaffirms the centrality of legality and strict statutory definition: an assessment of whether a prosecutor acted correctly cannot replace proof of the specific elements of the offence.

Sources

Italian Supreme Court – official case page and full text of judgment no. 34812/2026.

Further reporting: Giurisprudenza Penale.