ECHR Finds Italy Guilty in Woman’s Stalking, Abuse Case

Strasbourg: The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday found Italy guilty of failing to act promptly after a woman filed a complaint against her ex-partner, stating he had repeatedly abused and stalked her.

According to Ansa News Agency, the ECHR expressed concern over the combined effect of the Italian judicial system’s statute of limitations and the delay in proceedings, which have led to many domestic abuse cases being shelved. The woman filed a complaint with the European court in 2019, having reported her partner’s abuse to the Italian authorities in 2009.

The Strasbourg-based court highlighted in the sentence that it took three months for the woman’s criminal complaint to be registered by the Italian authorities, and that her former partner “was subsequently indicted four years after the presentation of the complaint,” while “the sentence of first instance was issued six years later.”

Moreover, the ECHR stated that “16 months later, an appeals court acquitted the man of actions committed before February 25, 2009, because the law providing for the abuse charge had not come into effect yet, and said the statute of limitations for the criminal charges pressed against him after that date had expired.”

The ECHR stressed it had already determined that States must act promptly in abuse cases against women, noting it was “not convinced that in the specific case authorities showed real willingness to guarantee that the former partner would be held accountable for his actions.”

On the contrary, the court said it believes national courts did not fulfil their obligation to ensure that the man charged with abusing and threatening his former partner “went through a speedy trial and could not benefit from the statute of limitations,” noting that authorities had not responded adequately given the “gravity” of the offenses, giving the man “total impunity.”