Thompson, Lloyd (22 April 2018). Danilo Restivo. Britain's Most Evil Killers. Danilo Restivo, Phil James, Elizabeth Yardley. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
According to Italian law and its justice system, which has three degrees of judgment and follows the "presumption of innocence" principle, a defendant is "not guilty" until the sentence "becomes final" (cosa giudicata) and is no longer appealable (res judicata). A defendant has the right to all three levels of judgment (Tribunal, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court of Cassation) and to advance on any level a request for a constitutional complaint. They also have the right to go to supranational courts, such as the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, to stand up for their reasons. The defence's task is not necessarily to prove the innocence of their client but rather simply to present evidence favourable to the defendant; the burden of proof falls on the prosecution, which must prove their case "beyond a reasonable doubt", a standard that was only adopted in 1988 with the reform of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure (1989), which can be considered to be somewhere in between the inquisitorial system and the adversarial system.
The goal of the Italian judge (giudice) is to reach the truth, or legal/procedural truth (verità processuale), and in this there are similarities with the historian. The goal of the Italian public prosecutor (pubblico ministero) is not simply to prove an accusation but also to reach the truth; for example, the public prosecutor's goal include ascertaining facts and circumstances that could exonerate the suspect (e.g. providing exculpatory evidence to the defence). As part of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure, the accused is thus presumed innocent, and both the defendant and the prosecution can appeal a court's judgment. An appeal triggers what is essentially a trial de novo, in which all evidence and witnesses can be re-examined. A further appeal can be made to the Supreme Court of Cassation but only on procedural grounds or on issues of the interpretation of law.
For an overview of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure (before and after 1988) and the working of criminal trials as well as the presumption of innocence in Italy, see:
Mencarelli, Franco (1981). "Processo penale". Enciclopedia Italiana (in Italian). Vol. IV Appendice. Rome: Italian Encyclopedia Institute. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
