Extradition Lawyer in Florence: Corte d'appello di Firenze and the Local Procedure

Does the Florence Court of Appeal have territorial responsibility?

The official district comprises the ordinary-court districts of Arezzo, Florence, Grosseto, Livorno, Lucca, Pisa, Pistoia, Prato and Siena. Massa-Carrara is the important exception: although it is in Tuscany, its municipalities fall under the Court of Appeal of Genoa. The place of arrest therefore matters. For an urgent provisional extradition arrest under Article 716 of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure, police must put the arrested person at the disposal of the president of the Court of Appeal for the district where the arrest occurred, transmitting the arrest record within 48 hours. That identifies the court for the validation stage; final competence under Article 701(4) follows a separate statutory order, including residence or domicile when the request reaches the Ministry and the court involved in a provisional arrest.

For conventional extradition, the relevant Court of Appeal is determined under Article 701(4) of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure; for a file allocated to Florence’s district, that is the Corte d’appello di Firenze. The court’s published criminal-sector directory identifies a dedicated registry for passive extradition and European Arrest Warrant matters. Its criminal sector has three ordinary criminal sections, alongside separate assize-appeal and juvenile sections, and the court decides collegially. Do not assume which ordinary section will receive a file; check the assignment and the notice actually served.

Which local offices handle the file?

The court’s Decree No. 61/2026, dated 26 February 2026, states that the Front-office Penale is open to the public Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 13:00. Some entries in the online directory still show 10:00–13:00, so the published information is inconsistent; confirm the current hours with the court before travelling. For file consultation and copies, use the published forms/email route; access depends on procedural status and the applicable rules. If writing from a certified PEC address, include an ordinary email address for the reply.

What should happen during the first 72 hours?

This is a practical action plan, not a statutory “72-hour rule”. Article 716 gives police up to 48 hours to put a person arrested provisionally at the president’s disposal. If release is not ordered, the president has the next 48 hours to validate the arrest. Validation can therefore fall after the first 72 hours.

Which deadlines should counsel track in a Florence file?

The national sequence still controls, but the applicable treaty and Italy’s declarations for the requesting state must also be checked; record each trigger separately: under Article 703(1), if the Minister proceeds, the Ministry transmits the request within 30 days of receipt; under Article 703(4), the Prosecutor General has a separate 30 days from receipt to file the requisitoria. Article 703(5) allows 10 days after notice of deposit for file access and memoranda. Article 704(1) requires service of the hearing decree at least 10 days before the hearing, with memoranda due up to five days before; the Court of Appeal’s six-month decision period under Article 704(2) runs from presentation of the requisitoria, not arrest. Article 706’s six months is the Court of Cassation’s decision period, not the filing deadline. For provisional arrest, Articles 715(6) and 716(5) use 40 days from the Minister’s communication of the measure to the requesting state for the formal request and Article 700 documents to arrive; Article 716(4) requires the Minister to request continuation within 10 days after validation or the measure is revoked. The Italy country guide explains the national sequence in depth.

How long can detention continue, and how is it challenged?

Under Article 714(4), a coercive measure is generally revoked if one year from its execution passes without a favourable Court of Appeal judgment, or if one year and six months passes without completion of the judicial process when cassation is pending against a favourable judgment. For particularly complex checks, extensions may be granted on the Prosecutor General’s request, but the total extension cannot exceed three months. A separate three-month period applies after the Minister’s favourable extradition decision if surrender has not occurred; an administrative challenge suspends that period from filing until the adverse decision or termination, for no more than six months.

Do not confuse an Article 719 challenge to a coercive-measure order with an Article 706 appeal against the final extradition judgment. Article 719 provides a cassation appeal for violation of law against the relevant detention orders; it is not the ordinary reconsideration procedure available for some domestic criminal measures. For an order issued after chamber proceedings, the general Article 585 period is normally 15 days from notification or communication of the notice of deposit, but counsel must calculate the deadline and trigger from the actual order and service record. An administrative challenge to the Minister’s decision is separate. For refusal grounds and appeal strategy, see the guide to challenging extradition from Italy.

In judgment No. 20105, deposited on 1 June 2026, the Sixth Criminal Section of the Court of Cassation held that a request to extend extradition custody under Article 714(4) requires a concrete and effective opportunity for the parties to be heard. A full oral hearing is not always necessary; written submissions can suffice if the process is genuinely adversarial. Counsel should obtain the extension request and the order and check what opportunity to respond was provided. The judgment does not mean that every procedural error automatically requires release.

A separate Court of Cassation ruling, No. 7361/2026 (deposited on 24 February 2026), addressed calculation of the one-year maximum in Article 714(4): Article 297(1) applies to determine when the period starts, but the suspension mechanism in Article 297(4) does not apply to this extradition deadline. This is a rule about calculating time, not automatic release; counsel should check the execution date, any properly granted extension for particularly complex checks, and the full procedural record.

Is this an EAW or conventional extradition?

A European Arrest Warrant is a separate surrender route under Italian Law No. 69/2005 and EU law. The Florence registry handles both EAW and conventional extradition files, but the legal tests and deadlines differ. Do not apply the conventional-extradition timetable in Article 704 to an EAW. For the national procedure from beginning to end, see the Italy extradition guide.

A short alert does not by itself identify the Italian legal route. Ask counsel to obtain the actual warrant or request and the order authorising custody. Extradition is distinct from immigration detention or removal; the authority and challenge route depend on the instrument actually used.

What does the Court of Cassation say about hearing notices?

The Court of Cassation’s published summary in decision No. 48467/2023 describes omission or non-service of the formal Article 704(1) hearing decree as absolute and incurable nullity. That rule concerns the missing formal decree; other notice or translation issues must be assessed separately on their facts.

What should the family send first?

• The arrest record and the exact legal instrument named in it.
• Every order or notice with the date and method of service, plus the hearing date.
• Identity/residence details, preferred interpreter language and urgent medical or protection documents.

Hypothetical example: if a traveller is provisionally arrested within the Florence appellate district on a non-EU extradition request, counsel should check the Florence court’s Article 716 validation timestamps, the Article 717 five-day interview and the 40-day document clock. If the papers identify an EAW instead, the lawyer must switch to Law No. 69/2005 rather than apply Article 704 automatically.

Where should case-specific advice begin?

Start with the custody order, exact arrest location and time, the legal route and the latest notice—not assumptions based on a Red Notice or a relative’s address. The Italy country guide explains the nationwide framework; this page adds Florence’s district boundary, local registry route and access process. The site team coordinates cross-border defence with local counsel; use the request page to contact the team.