Published on 9 October 2023

FIRST SECTION

Application no. 20191/16 Antonio FARAGLIA against Italy and 5 other applications (see appended table) communicated on 18 September 2023

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASES

The applications concern the right not to be tried or punished twice under the jurisdiction of the same State for an offence of which an individual has already been finally acquitted or convicted in accordance with the law and criminal procedure of that State.

The applicants allege a violation of the principle of ne bis in idem under Article 7 of Protocol no. 4 to the Convention with regard to the proceedings whose details are summarised in the appended table.

QUESTION TO THE PARTIES

Has the applicant been tried or punished twice for the same offence in the territory of the respondent State, as prohibited by Article 4 § 1 of Protocol No. 7 ( Ser gey Zolotukhin v. Russia [GC], no. 14939/03, ECHR 2009 and A and B v. Norway [GC], nos. 24130/11 and 29758/11, 15 November 2016)?

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

With regard to application no. 20191/16, the applicant is asked to submit judgment no. 617/06 of the Varese District Court, R.G. 3781/05 showing the stamp with the date on which the judgment was filed.

With regard to application no. 26454/19, the applicants are asked to submit the tax assessment notices ( avvisi di accertamento ) referred to in the appended table, and the documents concerning the proceedings before the Regional Tax Commission following referral by judgment no. 31726/18 of the Court of Cassation.

With regard to application no. 56100/19, the applicant is asked to submit a document showing the date in which judgment no. 3446/15 of the Bologna District Court became final.

With regard to application no. 29241/22, the applicant is asked to produce full copies of the judgment of the Como District Court R.G. 1563/14 and judgment no. 6957 of the Milan Court of Appeal; and a copy of judgment no. 37849/2017 of the Court of Cassation, showing the stamp with the date on which the judgment was filed.

APPENDIX:

No.

Application no. Case name Introduction date

Applicant’s name Year of birth/Registration date Place of residence Nationality

Representative’s name Location

First set of

proceedings

Second set of proceedings

1.

20191/16 Faraglia

v. Italy 06/04/2016

Antonio FARAGLIA 1965 Rieti Italian

Antonella MASCIA Verona

Criminal proceedings Relevant conduct:

uncontrolled storage of material resulting from digging and demolition activities, rocks and bitumen in areas subject to landscape and hydrogeological constraints; soil handling, digging and storage of non-hazardous waste.

Relevant provisions:

section 51 of Legislative Decree no. 22/1997; section 163 Legislative Decree no. 490/1999 in conjunction with section 20(c) of the Law no. 47/1985 as replaced by section 44(c) of Legislative Decree no. 378/2001 Proceedings:

Varese District Court Judgment no. 239/03 R.G. 544/02 22/04/2003 Milan Court of Appeal Judgment no. 3671/03 R.G. 3671/03 21/11/2003

Court of Cassation Judgment no. 43955/04 R.G. 16850/04 11/11/2004

Administrative proceedings Relevant conduct:

soil handling, digging, discharge of soil, rocks and waste material resulting from demolition activities damaging soil and amending intended use of an area subject to hydrogeological constraint without previous authorisation. Relevant provisions:

section 25 and ff. of Regional Law no. 8/1976 and section 55 of Regional Regulation no. 1/1993

Proceedings:

Order of injunction ( ordinanza ingiunzione ) no. 4/05 by Consorzio di Gestione del Parco Regionale del Campo dei Fiori Varese District Court Judgment no. 617/06 R.G. 3781/05 04/03/2008

Milan Court of Appeal Judgment no. 2140/11 R.G. 967/08 14/07/2011 Court of Cassation Judgment no. 100/17 R.G. 22969/12 04/01/2017

2.

43145/18 Cooperativa Agri.Tur. Servizi

v. Italy 04/09/2018

COOPERATIVA AGRI.TUR. SERVIZI Patù Italian

Iolanda

DE FRANCESCO Corsano

Biagio

DE FRANCESCO

Corsano

Tax proceedings

Relevant conduct:

issuance of fake invoices

Relevant provisions:

sections 6 and 9 of Legislative Decree no. 471/1997

Proceedings:

Tax assessment notice no. TVM030101498/2010 concerning VAT with regard to tax year 2005

25/05/2010 Provincial Tax Commission of Lecce Judgment no. 248/04/14 R.G. 2257/10 05/02/2014

Administrative proceedings Relevant conduct:

issuance of fake invoices to mislead the Agency for Farming Disbursement and obtain public funds.

Relevant provisions:

sections 2 and 3 of Law 898/1986

Proceedings:

Order of injunction ( ordinanza ingiunzione ) no. 96/2010 by the Ministry of agricultural, food and forest policies - Department of central inspectorate for protection of quality and repression of food frauds - Office of Bari 09/09/2010 Lecce District Court Order of referral to the Constitutional Court with regard to article 3 of Law 898/1986 R.G. 70000321/2012 Constitutional Court Order no. 54/18 08/03/2018 Lecce District Court Judgment no. 4024/19 R.G. 70000321/2012 17/12/2019

3.

26454/19 Rimoldi

v. Italy 08/05/2019

Ernesto RIMOLDI 1961 Olgiate Olona Italian Gianluigi RIMOLDI 1956 Busto Arsizio Italian

Criminal proceedings Relevant conduct: fraudulent submission of false declarations in lieu of a sworn affidavit ( dichiarazioni sostitutive dell’atto di notorietà ) to Traffic Control Authority ( Motorizzazione Civile ) and deceptions by means of false interposition of legal persons issuing fake invoices with a view to import motor vehicles in order to mislead Traffic Control Authority and Tax Authority ( Agenzia delle Entrate ) from 2004 to 2007. Relevant provisions:

Article 640 criminal code; sections 47 and 76 of Decree of the President of the Republic no. 445/2000 in connection with article 483 criminal code; sections 2 and 8 of Legislative Decree no. 74/2000 Proceedings:

Busto Arsizio District Court Judgment no. 377/12 R.G. 52/09; 159/09; 233/09; 154/10; and 674/10 27/02/2013

Tax proceedings Relevant conduct:

false interposition of legal persons issuing fake invoices with a view to import motor vehicles in order to evade VAT from 2004 to 2007.

Relevant provisions:

n.a.

Proceedings:

1) tax assessment notices no. R2V02BB00055/2008; R2V02BB00044/2008; R2V01BB00063/2008 and R2V01BB00061/2008 concerning VAT with regard to tax year 2004 and VAT, IRAP and IRPEF with regard to tax years 2005 Provincial Tax Commission of Varese Judgment no. 31/12/09 R.G. 1106/08 13/02/09 Regional Tax Commission of Milan Judgment no. 34/8/14 R.G. 7455/09 28/04/2011 Court of Cassation Judgment no. 31726/18 R.G. 12306/12 07/12/2018 2) tax assessments notices nos. T9302TA00556/2010; T93010H01322/2010 and T93010H01323/2010 concerning IRAP and IRPEF with regard to tax year 2006 Provincial Tax Commission of Varese Judgment no. 104/06/11 R.G. 1934/10 07/12/2011 Regional Tax Commission of Milan Judgment no. 55/28/13 R.G. 3252/12 16/04/2013 Court of Cassation Judgment no. 28705/18 R.G. 27320/13 09/11/2018 3) tax assessment notices no. T9303TC02055/2012 and T93C0TC01011/2012 concerning IRAP, IRES and VAT with regard to tax year 2007 Provincial Tax Commission of Varese Judgment no. 105/12/13 R.G. 363/13 18/11/2013 Regional Tax Commission of Milan Judgment no. 1285/15 R.G. 3152/14 30/03/2015 Court of Cassation Judgment no. 28706/18 R.G. 26232/15 09/11/2018

4.

40598/19 Miosotis Transport di Mauri Giuseppe

& C. S.n.c.

v. Italy 22/07/2019

MIOSOTIS TRANSPORT DI MAURI GIUSEPPE

& C. S.N.C. Somma Lombardo Italian

Anton Giulio LANA Rome

Criminal proceedings Relevant conduct:

transport of waste aiming at documentarily turning them from "waste" into "secondary raw material" so that they be treated without necessary authorisations Relevant provisions:

section 256 (1) of Legislative Decree no. 152/2006 Proceedings: Vigevano Office of the Prosecutor Decree of the prosecutor directly committing the accused to trial ( citazione diretta a giudizio ) R.G.N.R. 1731/06 03/10/2007 Vigevano District Court Judgment no. 456/08 R.G. 253/08 02/12/2008 (final 16/01/2009)

Administrative proceedings Relevant conduct:

transport of waste without relative module established under article 193 (1) of the decree or with module containing incomplete or inaccurate data Relevant provisions:

section 258 (4) of Legislative Decree no. 152/2006 Proceedings: Orders of injunction ( ordinanze ingiunzione ) nos. 8/2010; 9/2010; 10/2010; 11/2010; 12/2010; 13/2010; 14/2010; 15/2010; 16/2010; 17/2010; 18/2010; 19/2010; 20/2010; 21/2010; 22/2010; 23/2010; 24/2010 by the municipality of Pavia 22-29/03/2010 Vigevano District Court Judgment no. 151/11 R.G. 1070/10 07/06/2011 Milano Court of Appeal Judgment no. 4757/15 R.G. 4070/11 11/12/2015 Court of Cassation Judgment no. 1646/19 R.G. 13242/16 22/01/2019

5.

56100/19 Trevisan

v. Italy 15/10/2019

Romeo TREVISAN 1958 Molinella Italian

Angelo SCAVONE Bologna

Criminal proceedings Relevant conduct:

fraud by means of submission of fake estimates to manipulate the allocation of EU funds by the Agency for Allocation of Funds to Agriculture of Emilia Romagna and the Municipality of Bologna. Relevant provisions: article 640 bis criminal code

Proceedings: Bologna District Court Judgment no. 3446/15 R.G. 4986/14 23/12/2015

Administrative proceedings Relevant conduct:

submission of fake estimates to manipulate the allocation of EU funds by the Agency for Allocation of Funds to Agriculture of Emilia Romagna and the Municipality of Bologna

Relevant provisions: sections 2 and 3 of Law no. 898/1986

Proceedings: Order of injunction ( ordinanza ingiunzione ) P.G. no. 142833 by the Service of Agriculture of the Municipality of Bologna 15/10/2013 Bologna District Court Judgment no. 1997/14 R.G. 19927/13 13/06/2014 Bologna Court of Appeal Judgment no. 1277/15 R.G. 182/15 23/07/2015 Court of Cassation Judgment no. 10459/19 R.G. 5908/16 15/04/2019

6.

29241/22 Meersserman

v. Italy 29/05/2022

Jean-Pierre MEERSSERMAN 1947 Como Italian

Paola REGINA Milan

Criminal proceedings Relevant conduct:

failure to submit income tax-return with regard to tax years 2005-2009 Relevant provisions: section 5 of Legislative Decree no. 74/2000 Proceedings:

Como District Court Judgment no. n./a. R.G. 1563/14 07/10/2015

Milan Court of Appeal Judgment no. 6957 R.G. 532/16 09/11/2016 (final 28/07/2017) Court of Cassation Judgment no. 37849/17 R.G. n./a. 28/07/2017

Tax proceedings Relevant conduct:

failure to submit income tax-return with regard to tax years 2005-2009 Relevant provisions:

section 1(1) of Legislative Decree no. 471/1997

Proceedings:

1) Tax assessment notice no. T9K010800679/2011 concerning IRES and IRPEF with regard to tax year 2005

20/04/2011 Provincial Tax Commission of Como Judgment no. 29/05/12 R.G. 1147/11 04/07/2012 Regional Tax Commission of Milan Judgment no. 4184/14 R.G. 1340/13 31/07/2014 Court of Cassation Judgment no. 37149/21 R.G. 3273/15 29/11/2021 2) Tax assessment notices nos. T9K010701100/2012

T9K010701105/2012

T9K010701107/2012

T9K010701111/2012

concerning IRPEF with regard to tax years 2006-2009

26/06/2012

Provincial Tax Commission of Como Judgment no. 81/01/13 R.G. 96/13 29/05/13 Regional Tax Commission of Milan Judgment no. 3246/14 R.G. 90/14 17/06/2014 Court of Cassation Judgment no. 38759/21 R.G. 3269/15 07/12/2021