Defensive investigations
Seeking the evidence, not just waiting for it
When people think of a criminal trial, they usually picture the investigations of the police and the prosecutor. But the law (Arts. 391-bis ff. of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Law 397/2000) also gives the defence the right to search for and gather evidence, from the very first day of the mandate: interviewing witnesses, obtaining documents, inspecting locations. It means not enduring the prosecution's moves, but actively building one's own truth.
It is not a tool only for the accused: the law grants it also to the victim of the offence, who, through their lawyer, can strengthen the complaint, oppose a dismissal, and appear at trial — including as a civil party — with concrete evidence.
One decisive point: the lawyer may rely on experts — technical consultants and authorised private investigators — to examine scientific evidence, traces, digital data and medical-legal aspects. Unlike a private investigator, here the investigation is coordinated by the lawyer and has full value in the criminal trial: this is how the contest with the prosecution truly becomes a level playing field.
Digital evidence
Chats, messages and WhatsApp as evidence
Today many cases — from abuse and stalking to fraud and offences against the person — turn on messages, WhatsApp chats, photos and phone data. If acquired correctly, these elements have full evidential value in the criminal trial.
Within defensive investigations, the lawyer can have the forensic recovery and analysis of WhatsApp chats and messages carried out by a digital forensic consultant, so that they are genuine, intact and admissible before the judge. In the same way, the validity of those produced by the other side can be challenged.
Retrial (revisione)
A second chance after a final conviction
Imagine a trial that ended in a final conviction: every level of judgment is exhausted, there is no more appeal. As a rule, that decision is untouchable. But justice cannot close its eyes to error.
If, after the conviction, new evidence emerges — a witness, a document, a scientific test that did not exist before — capable of proving innocence, the law (Arts. 629 ff. of the Code of Criminal Procedure) allows the trial to be reopened. It is called revisione (retrial): an extraordinary and difficult remedy, but the way to correct a miscarriage of justice and give a person their name back.
European Court of Human Rights
When the last word is not the last word
Even when Italian justice has said its final word, if fundamental rights remain violated, the road is not over. There is the European Court of Human Rights, based in Strasbourg: an international court to which a citizen can turn when the State has breached one of the rights guaranteed by the European Convention — for instance the right to a fair trial (Art. 6) or the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment (Art. 3).
The application is filed after all domestic remedies have been exhausted and within strict time limits. A Strasbourg ruling can recognise the violation, award just satisfaction and, in some cases, open the way to reopening the trial in Italy.