Extradition Lawyer in Genoa: Corte d'appello di Genova and the Local Procedure

Which Genoa court and prosecutor handle the case?

The relevant appellate court is the Corte d'appello di Genova. Its district covers Liguria and the Province of Massa, using the wording of the court’s official description; that description says seven ordinary courts and corresponding public prosecutor offices operate within the district. Extradition is not an ordinary first-instance criminal trial before a local Tribunale. Under Articles 697–719 of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure, the Court of Appeal conducts the judicial examination, while the Ministry of Justice has a separate national role in the final extradition decision. The national guide, Extradition from Italy, explains that wider procedure.

The current “Area Penale” directory expressly lists extradition and European Arrest Warrant (EAW) matters under both the Second and Third Criminal Section registries. It does not tell a reader which section has received a particular file. Before sending any deadline-sensitive document, ask the general criminal registry or counsel to confirm the assigned section and the correct filing channel. The published contacts below help identify the right office; they do not guarantee that an email or a filing sent to the wrong office will preserve a statutory deadline. The directory lists areapromiscuapenale.ca.genova@giustiziacert.it for foreign-matter handling at Sections II and III. For a Cassation appeal against a decision issued by one of those sections, the court instructs counsel to use only the authorised section-specific PEC address: depositattipenali2.ca.genova@giustiziacert.it for Section II or depositattipenali3.ca.genova@giustiziacert.it for Section III. Use of a non-authorised address may make the appeal inadmissible. Do not treat the general foreign-matter PEC as a substitute for the authorised appeal channel; confirm the assigned section and exact filing route for the act.

What are the first statutory steps after an urgent extradition arrest?

This is a practical action plan, not a single 72-hour statutory deadline. Article 716 sets separate clocks for an urgent provisional extradition arrest: handover to the President of the Court of Appeal no later than 48 hours after arrest; validation within the following 48 hours after the person is placed at the President’s disposal; and a 10-day period from validation for the Minister of Justice to request maintenance of any coercive measure. Article 716 applies only where a provisional-arrest request has been presented and the conditions in Article 715(2) are met. Record the arrest time, handover time, validation order, and every notification.

For this urgent Article 716 route, the events are distinct: handover within 48 hours of arrest, validation within the following 48 hours after the person is placed at the President’s disposal, and a 10-day ministerial maintenance-request period measured from validation. These are not the deadline for the formal request, the maximum custody period, or the final extradition decision. The applicable treaty and other statutory rules may create separate periods; calculate each from its own trigger.

Where might a person arrested in the Genoa district be held?

The Ministry of Justice lists Casa circondariale di Genova Marassi at Piazzale Marassi 2, 16139 Genova. Its facility card gives the telephone number 010 84051 and email cc.marassi.genova@giustizia.it, and lists bus lines 12, 13, 14, 37, 47, 480 and 482 near Genova Brignole. The published facility data was updated on 23 October 2026. This information does not mean that every person arrested on an extradition matter in the district is held there. Confirm the actual facility and any transfer with counsel or the authority holding the person.

Visits, access by foreign counsel, calls and delivery of documents depend on current facility rules and the person’s legal status. Before travelling, confirm appointment, authorisation, identification and translation requirements directly. If the person is held elsewhere, use the facility named in the detention order rather than assuming Marassi is the destination.

What if the arrest happened at Genoa Airport or the port?

Genoa’s Aeroporto “Cristoforo Colombo” is in Genova Sestri. The airport’s official contact page lists the Polizia di Frontiera (Border Police) at 010 659671. This is a local airport contact, not a substitute for counsel or the court once the person has been transferred into judicial custody.

For an arrest at the port, give counsel the exact terminal or quay, vessel, arrival time and arresting authority. “Genoa port” alone may not identify the responsible unit. Under Article 716, the district where the urgent provisional extradition arrest occurred determines which Court of Appeal President receives the handover; a later journey to Genoa does not by itself transfer jurisdiction to Genoa.

Is this extradition or a European Arrest Warrant?

Ordinary extradition to a non-EU state is generally governed by Articles 697–719 of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure and the applicable treaty; an EAW follows the separate procedure implemented by Law No. 69/2005. Treaty applicability, reservations and national refusal grounds must be assessed case by case; see the national extradition-remedies guide.

A European Arrest Warrant (EAW) is an EU judicial surrender mechanism, not another name for ordinary extradition or an INTERPOL Red Notice. In the ordinary non-consensual route, the decision period is normally 60 days from execution of the precautionary measure or arrest (or the decision not to apply a measure); the statute permits a further 30 days in specified circumstances. If the person consents to surrender, the decision is due within 10 days from the date consent is expressed. Under Article 22, a Cassation challenge to the ordinary judgment generally must be filed within five days from legal knowledge of the judgment, and the grounds are limited to Article 606(1)(a)–(c) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The specified consent-order route has a three-day deadline from legal knowledge of that order and the same restricted grounds. Counsel must immediately verify the actual order, consent status and trigger. Article 716’s provisional-extradition-arrest deadlines are not EAW appeal deadlines. See the EAW procedure guide and the page on extradition versus EAW surrender.

Which challenges can be made in Genoa, and where are they heard?

The Court of Appeal of Genoa decides the judicial extradition question and the provisional measures assigned to it by law. Under Article 706 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, its final extradition decision may be challenged before the Corte di cassazione (Court of Cassation), including on the merits. Article 719 provides a different Cassation route for an order concerning a provisional coercive measure, limited to a violation of law. These remedies are not interchangeable: counsel must identify whether the challenge concerns the final extradition decision or a custody measure.

For an EAW, Law No. 69/2005 governs the appeal route and deadline. Counsel must identify the order, the legally relevant date of knowledge, whether consent was given, and whether the issue concerns custody or surrender. The national page How to Stop Extradition from Italy covers refusal grounds and remedies in depth. Do not assume that local practice extends a statutory deadline or that an application for release automatically stops the surrender timetable.

Italy does not apply strict common-law stare decisis. Court of Cassation decisions are highly authoritative, and Article 618(1-bis) c.p.p. requires a criminal section that intends to depart from a legal principle stated by the United Sections to refer the issue to those Sections. In an extradition-custody extension case, judgment No. 20,105/2026 requires a concrete and effective adversarial process before the extension is decided; written submissions may suffice in the circumstances described by the Court. Judgment No. 34,813/2026 rejects automatic backdating of custody periods across separate extradition proceedings merely because the underlying facts are connected. That later ruling limits a blanket argument that separate requests must share one custody clock. Counsel must check the facts and any later authority before relying on either judgment.

What should family members and overseas counsel prepare?

• The person’s full legal name, date of birth, citizenship, passport details and spelling variants appearing in the foreign warrant or alert.
• The arrest record, warrant or alert, court papers, translations already supplied, and the date and time each document was served or communicated.
• The arresting police unit, exact location, current detention facility and any transfer details.
• Contact details for current and overseas counsel, plus written authority or a power of attorney if the lawyer or institution requires one.
• Evidence of residence, work, dependants and family ties where relevant; medical records and a current medication list.
• A chronology of hearings, calls, notifications and stated deadlines. Preserve originals and do not annotate the only copy.

Hypothetical example: a Georgian national is stopped at Cristoforo Colombo Airport following a foreign provisional extradition-arrest alert. The family should not assume that a Red Notice itself is the formal extradition request. They should obtain the arrest paperwork, confirm whether the police are acting under Article 716 c.p.p. and whether the statutory conditions are recorded, note the arrest time, arrange counsel and an interpreter, and ask the lawyer to confirm which Genoa registry has the file. The correct first task is to establish the legal route and preserve the relevant deadlines—not to argue every refusal ground at the airport desk.

Questions families often ask

Sources and official local information

This page provides general information, not advice on an individual case. The site’s team coordinates cross-border defence with local counsel; to discuss a specific situation, use the request form.