Having regard to compensation for excessive length of the proceeding in accordance with the ECHR and the relevant Italian law (so called ‘Legge Pinto’), the United Sections of the Court of Cassation established the principle that the in case of death of a part and subsequent intervention by the heirs in a criminal trial, the length of the proceedings is calculated, for the heirs, starting from the moment they became aware of the process or, failing that, the date of their intervention in court.