Decision of the Court of Cassation, IV Criminal Section, No. 36769 of 24 July 2017

In this judgment, the Court of Cassation ruled that the offense of corruption provided for in Article 318 of the criminal code consists, also, in the conduct of a civil servant negotiating the exercise of his public functions for illicitly receiving money or other advantages from another person, irrespective of the commission of further acts. The Article applies also in respect of members of Italian Parliament acting as members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; these must be regarded as public officers or persons in charge with public functions because of their quality of Italian parliamentarians. Finally, the Court excluded that the conduct above may be covered with any kind of immunity, either in the light of Italian legislation and jurisprudence and of the pertinent norms of international law (most in particular, the General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe, and the additional Protocol).