Decision of the Court of Appeal of Milan, III Criminal Section, of 1 February 2013

The Court of Appeal of Milan, upholding the appeal of the Prosecutor against the decision of first instance, affirmed the competence of the Italian courts over three members of the diplomatic and consular staff of the U.S. in Rome, who participated in the abduction of the Egyptian national Abu Omar, a case of “extraordinary rendition” occurred in Milan in 2003. The Court of Appeal applied the criteria laid down by the Court of Cassation in its judgment No. 46340 of 2012, concerning the same facts, under which functional or personal immunity from criminal jurisdiction must not be recognized in relation to extraordinary rendition operations, a conduct prohibited by Italian law, which also amounts to a serious breach of human rights and humanitarian law.