Decision of the Judge for preliminary hearing of the Court of Catania No. 1077 of 21 December 2015

The Judge for preliminary hearing of the Court of Catania stated in this decision that the offense of ‘concorso esterno in associazione mafiosa’ (i.e., the fact of supporting mafia association from outside) no longer exists in the Italian legal order as an effect of the ECHR Court judgment on the case Contrada v. Italy of 2015. The ECHR Court ruled that said offense, which results from judicial interpretation of Articles 110 e 416 bis of the penal code, has become effective into the Italian legal system starting from the decision of the Supreme Court of Cassation on the Demitry case (1994). Conviction in relation to earlier conducts is therefore inconsistent with the principles of non-retroactivity and certainty of criminal law under the ECHR. However, the ECHR Court decision was interpreted in a different manner by the Appeal Court of Catania before which Contrada had brought an application for reviewing the final conviction against him in the light of the ECHR Court judgment (decision of the Court of Appeal of Caltanissetta of 18 November 2015, which rejected the application).