Decision of the Court of Cassation, II Criminal Section, No. 16769 of 17 July 2015

The Court of Cassation annulled the decision of not prosecuting a minor accused of a serious offense, which had been taken by the judge for preliminary investigation only on the grounds that the accused was less than 14 years old and, thus, not punishable. The Court reputed that the judge should have investigated on the facts, at least to the extent in which this was necessary to ascertain whether the minor was really involved. Any different course of action was in breach of many provisions of the Italian Constitution, and Italy’s obligations under Article 40 of the New York Convention on the Rights of the Child and Article 6 of the ECHR.