Italian Court of Cassation (Corte di Cassazione italiana), Criminal Section V, No. 13060/2021, 7 April 2021

Media pluralism. Criminal liability for defamation charges. Choice of sanction (pecuniary sanction v. detention). 

Art. 595 Italian Criminal Code 

In the case at stake, regarding defamation via blog, detention is not required, unless the merit court gives specific reasons explaining why detention has to be preferred to pecuniary sanction. As a matter of fact, as per ord. 132/2020 of the Italian Constitutional Court, only defamatory behaviour resulting in the instigation of violence or hate speech deserved to be punished with detention. While waiting that the Italian legislator enforces the Constitutional Court's order and amends national law, it is for the merit judge to give specific, precise and detailed reasons grounding the choice of detention instead of the pecuniary sanction.