Depending on the seriousness of the behavior, the individual can apply for a warning at any police office. In this case, protection measures have a predetermined duration and are applied when there are situations of well-founded fear that have not yet resulted in criminal acts. However, when the situation is more serious and a crime has been committed, it is possible to file a complaint with the police, with a view to requesting the Public Prosecutor's Office to adopt a protection order.

The police must intervene when called to an "emergency intervention." In addition to compulsory arrest, the judicial police, if authorized by the public prosecutor, and in the case of flagrancy of serious offenses (including serious injuries, aggravated threats and violence), may apply the "precautionary" measure of emergency removal from the family home and the prohibition from approaching places frequented by the victim.

A law firm can be involved if the victim of domestic violence decides to report an accusation of crime and turn to a lawyer. In addition, victims of domestic violence and family abuse are entitled to free legal aid regardless of their income.

As discussed above, under Italian law domestic violence offenses may trigger both criminal liability and civil liability. Depending on whether the case falls into the criminal law system or the civil law system, different standards of proof will apply. While in criminal proceedings prosecutors will be required to prove that the defendant is guilty "beyond any reasonable doubt," in civil law cases courts will apply the less strict standard of the "preponderance of evidence," i.e., the claim is more likely than not to be true.

There are no specific requirements for evidence and documents. To prove facts of domestic violence, prosecutors may resort to all kinds of evidence, including witness statements, documentary evidence, real evidence (such as DNA tests, fingerprints) or medical examinations.

Yes. Whoever falsely accuses someone of a crime or simulates evidence of a crime against the alleged perpetrator before a prosecutor, the Italian Criminal Court or any other law authority to whom one may report the commission of a crime, may be found guilty of slander and be sentenced to imprisonment.^[27]

Under Italian law, consent may be pleaded as an affirmative defense making lawful what would otherwise be unlawful conduct.

The subject of consent is widely discussed in relation to the crime of sexual violence. As a matter of fact, assessing whether the victim actually consented to sexual intercourse plays a key role in evaluating the conduct of the accused. In this regard, according to Italian case law:

• Consent must be expressed freely and outwardly (whether verbally or nonverbally) and must continue throughout the whole duration of the sexual intercourse. Based on this, courts qualified as sexual violence the conduct of continuing sexual intercourse when the consent of the victim — albeit initially given — broke down during the intercourse.
• Conversely, in order to qualify given conduct as unlawful due to lack of consent, the victim is not required to express their dissent throughout the entire duration of the sexual intercourse, it being sufficient that dissent is expressed at the beginning of the unlawful conduct.
• The crime of sexual violence may occur not only in cases where the accused intruded in the personal sphere and sexual integrity of the victim in the presence of an express manifestation of dissent, but also if the unlawful conduct was adopted in the absence of the victim's consent, when the latter was unaware of the acts that were performed on their body. For instance, courts qualified as sexual violence the conduct of performing sexual acts on a sleeping person.

Yes, both self-defense and insanity may in principle be regarded as defenses excluding or limiting liability for usually unlawful acts.

Self-defense

Victims of domestic violence may lawfully resort to the use of force to counter their abuser if they are forced to do so by the need to defend themselves or others against the actual danger of an unjust offense, provided that the defense is proportionate to the offense.^[28]

Insanity

A person accused of domestic violence offenses may be relieved of criminal liability if they are found to have been insane at the time the offense was allegedly committed.^[29]

Witnesses must testify honestly and completely. Anyone who, when appearing as a witness before a judicial authority or the International Criminal Court, declares something false or denies the truth, or hides —in whole or in part — what they know about the circumstances under investigation, will be punished by imprisonment from two to six years.^[30]

Close relatives of the offender are not compelled to testify.^[31] However, they must testify when they have filed a complaint, lawsuit or petition, or when they or a close relative of theirs are offended by the crime. This also applies in the event that the relative status has been acquired by means of an adoption. The aforementioned right to abstain from testifying also applies in relation to facts that occurred or were known by the offender during their matrimonial cohabitation or as a result of a civil union between same-sex individuals to the following individuals: (i) anyone who, although not a spouse of the offender, cohabits or has cohabited with the offender; (ii) the divorced spouse of the offender; or (iii) the person against whom there has been a ruling of invalidation, cancellation or termination of the civil effects of marriage or civil union between same-sex individuals with the offender.

According to Italian law, there are special protections for child witnesses in criminal proceedings. The Criminal Procedure Code provides that if children who are minors are heard in a "probatory incident" in order to ensure protection. The minor is examined by the judge with the presence of the parent and/or an auxiliary who can ensure conditions of serenity throughout the proceedings.

Witnessing violence is considered an aggravating circumstance of the crime of mistreatment in the family.^[32] If the abuser continuously mistreats their spouse or cohabitant in front of the children, causing them serious harm, the judge can force the abuser to leave the family home immediately.

In civil matters, the judge can order the forfeiture of the parent's authority and equally provide for the removal of the parent.

The judge can also order the intervention of social services, or a family mediation center, or anti-violence centers that support and receive women and children who are victims of abuse and mistreatment.

Recently there have been many legislative interventions relating to the criminal response to domestic violence. In particular, Law No. 69/2019 introduced substantial amendments to the Italian Criminal Code. First, this newly enacted law punishes those who commit the crime of ill-treatment against family members and cohabitants.^[33] Other amendments have been aimed at strengthening the penalties which is now imprisonment for three to seven years. Moreover, the above-mentioned law introduced four new crimes in the Italian Criminal Code:

• The crime of deformation of the person's appearance by permanent injury to the face is punishable by imprisonment for eight to 14 years.^[34] In cases where murder occurs because of the commission of this crime, the penalty is life imprisonment. The law further listed this new crime among violent intentional crimes under which the victim is entitled to compensation from the state.
• The crime of unlawful distribution of sexually explicit images or videos without the consent of the represented (so-called revenge porn) is punishable by imprisonment for one to six years and a fine of EUR 5,000 to 15,000.^[35] The penalty also applies to those who commit revenge porn by the further distribution of images or videos they have received or otherwise acquired, in order to harm the interested party. The offense is aggravated if the facts are committed within the context of an affective relationship — even if it has ceased, or in cases where the offense is committed with IT tools.
• The crime of constriction or induction into marriage is punishable by imprisonment for one to five years.^[36] The case is aggravated when the crime is committed to the detriment of minors and it is prosecuted when the act is committed abroad by or to the detriment of an Italian citizen or a non-citizen resident in Italy.
• The crime of violation of the measures of removal from the family home and the prohibition from approaching places frequented by the injured party is punishable by imprisonment for six months to three years.[37]

In general terms, including when these crimes are committed in a domestic context, Italian criminal law punishes:

• the crime of persecutory acts with imprisonment for one to six-and-a-half years.^[38] The penalty is increased if the crime is committed by the spouse, even if separated or divorced, or by a person who is or has been linked by an intimate relationship to the victim or if the act is committed through an IT tool.
• the crimes of sexual assault with imprisonment for six to twelve years.^[39]
• the crime of murder,^[40] within the scope of which the aggravating circumstances of personal intimate relationships is envisaged,^[41] with life imprisonment.

Having regard to the above and to the crime of ill-treatment against family members and cohabitants, it was introduced as a common aggravating circumstance, which is applicable in all cases where said crimes are committed to the detriment or in the presence of minors or a pregnant woman.^[42]

Yes, the Italian Criminal Code provides for the above-mentioned penalties.

A violation of an existing order of protection is punished with imprisonment of six months to three years.^[43]

Beyond the above-mentioned sanctions, the judge may also place a protection order against family abuse, which is issued when the conduct of the spouse or other cohabiting partner causes serious harm to the physical or moral integrity or freedom of the other spouse or partner.^[44]

Under Italian criminal procedural law, the victim of domestic violence or gender-based violence, with the help of the judicial police, is immediately notified of the release from prison and termination of custody of the offender or the convicted.

Moreover, the application, revocation or substitution of the precautionary measures applied in proceedings concerning crimes committed involving domestic violence, such as removal from the family home and prohibition from approaching places frequented by the victim, must be immediately notified by the judicial police to the social welfare services as well as to the victim and, where appointed, to their lawyer.^[45]