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issued by the Registrar of the Court   ECHR 231 (2025)   09.10.2025   Proceedings concerning confiscation of unlawfully built property in Italy,   particularly in respect of buyers held jointly liable for offence, incompatible   with Convention   The case of Petruzzo and Others v. Italy (applications nos. 1986/09 and 67556/13) concerned two   groups of applicants who complained about the confiscation of their land and buildings. The   authorities had considered that the property constituted an unlawful site development.   In today’s Chamber judgment1 the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there   had been:   no violation of Article 7 (no punishment without law) of the European Convention on Human Rights   in respect of the first group of applicants;   a violation of Article 7 of the Convention in respect of the second group of applicants; and   a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property) to the Convention in respect of all   the applicants.   With regard to the Article 7 complaint, the Court found that the domestic provisions establishing the   offence of unlawful site development were sufficiently foreseeable for the first group of applicants   (application no. 1986/09), who had constructed buildings that did not comply with the land-use plan   on part of their jointly owned land.   The Court held that there had, however, been a violation of Article 7 in respect of the second group   of applicants (application no. 67556/13), who had bought the flats comprising one of the buildings.   A penalty had been imposed on them even though they had not been parties to the criminal   proceedings and had never been formally charged with any offence. The Court also laid down the   requirements for Convention compliance to be met by the Italian authorities when conducting   property-confiscation proceedings in respect of buyers held jointly liable for unlawful site   development.   As to the complaint under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, the Court found that the first group of   applicants had had to bear an excessive and impractical burden. The domestic courts had ordered   the confiscation of all plots of land (totalling 97,000 square metres), whereas the unlawfully   constructed and sold buildings occupied an area of less than 300 square metres. In addition, the   procedural obligations under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 had not been complied with in respect of the   second group of applicants, who had not had the opportunity to take part in the proceedings that   had led to the confiscation of their property.   The Court further held, unanimously, that the Italian State was to return the confiscated property to   the applicants in the first group and to Ms Marsala, one of the applicants in the second group.   1. Under Articles 43 and 44 of the Convention, this Chamber judgment is not final. During the three-month period following its delivery,   any party may request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber of the Court. If such a request is made, a panel of five judges   considers whether the case deserves further examination. In that event, the Grand Chamber will hear the case and deliver a final   judgment. If the referral request is refused, the Chamber judgment will become final on that day.   Once a judgment becomes final, it is transmitted to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for supervision of its execution.   Further information about the execution process can be found here: www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/execution.   Principal facts   The case concerned two applications lodged by eight Italian nationals.   Application no. 1986/09 was lodged by five applicants (the first group of applicants), joint owners of   plots of land totalling 97,000 square metres. Between 1996 and 1998 they constructed two buildings   on less than 300 square metres of that land. They then sold the two flats comprising one of the   buildings.   In 2001 they were prosecuted for “change of intended use of land in breach of planning   regulations”. The Marsala District Court acquitted them in 2005 and ordered the return of the seized   property, finding there was insufficient evidence that the offence of unlawful site development had   been committed. The public prosecutor’s office appealed.   In 2007 the Palermo Court of Appeal quashed the District Court’s judgment. It considered that the   offence of hybrid unlawful site development had been made out because contractual and material   steps had been taken that had resulted in land use different from that provided for in the planning   regulations. The proceedings were discontinued on account of statutory limitation, but the Court of   Appeal nevertheless ordered the confiscation of the land and buildings. The applicants   unsuccessfully appealed on points of law.   Application no. 67556/13 was lodged by three applicants (the second group of applicants) who in   (Ms Marsala) and 1999 (Mr Damato and Ms Lodato) had bought the two flats built by the first   group of applicants. They were allegedly only informed of the proceedings and of the confiscation of   their property informally by a bank employee.   Although these applicants were not prosecuted, they had their flats confiscated. They initiated   proceedings to have the enforcement order for the confiscation set aside, but the domestic courts   considered that they had not acted with the requisite diligence and should have suspected that the   property did not correspond to its intended use. Their actions were accordingly dismissed.   Ultimately, the confiscation order, which covered all 97,000 square metres of land and the buildings,   was registered in the State’s favour on 11 August 2008.   In 2013 two applicants in the second group (Mr Damato and Ms Lodato) brought an action against   the first group of applicants, seeking the termination of the contract of sale and the return of the   purchase price paid. The domestic courts granted those claims and the applicants obtained payment   of the sums due.   Complaints   The applicants complained of the confiscation of their land and buildings.   They relied in particular on Article 7 (no punishment without law), alleging that an unforeseeable   penalty had been imposed on them – without, moreover, their having been convicted.   They also relied on Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property) to the Convention, arguing   that the confiscation of their property had been unlawful and disproportionate.   As one of the applicants (Mr Damato) had passed away, his heirs informed the Court that they   intended to pursue the application.   Procedure and composition of the Court   The applications were lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 7 January 2009 and on   October 2013.   Judgment was given by a Chamber of seven judges, composed as follows:   Ivana Jelić (Montenegro), President,   Erik Wennerström (Sweden),   Raffaele Sabato (Italy),   Frédéric Krenc (Belgium),   Alain Chablais (Liechtenstein),   Artūrs Kučs (Latvia),   Anna Adamska-Gallant (Poland),   and also Ilse Freiwirth, Section Registrar.   Decision of the Court   Article 7   Referring to its previous ruling in G.I.E.M. S.r.l. and Others v. Italy2, the Court first found that the   disputed confiscation could be regarded as a “penalty” within the meaning of Article 7 of the   Convention in respect of all the applicants.   First group of applicants   Allegation of lack of foreseeability and accessibility of the law: The Court considered that the first   group of applicants could have foreseen that the land was subject at the very least to the   construction restrictions imposed on areas not intended for development (“white zones”), given that   it was indicated in all the acts of the municipal authorities. Moreover, the Court of Cassation had   made it clear in its judgment that the applicants’ conduct had been in breach of that land-use   regime, a fact the applicants had not disputed. In the Court’s view, the Court of Cassation’s assertion   did not appear arbitrary. The division and sale of a building with a small portion of land, and the   successive construction of buildings for residential or tourism purposes, seemed difficult to reconcile   with the construction restrictions in “white zones” and the absence of a land-use plan. As regards   the argument that the offence was unforeseeable in the light of the municipal permits, the Court   merely pointed to the domestic courts’ finding that the building permits had not been complied   with. The provisions establishing the offence of unlawful site development (sections 18 and 19 of   Law no. 47 of 28 February 1985 and the applicable planning regulations) were therefore sufficiently   foreseeable.   Allegation of confiscation of property without a formal conviction: The domestic courts had found   that all the elements of the offence of unlawful site development had been made out, but had   discontinued the proceedings solely on account of statutory limitation. The Court considered that   those findings amounted, in substance, to a conviction for the purposes of Article 7 of the   Convention. In such circumstances, it saw no reason to depart from its findings in G.I.E.M. S.r.l. and   Others2. In addition, the applicants had had the benefit of adversarial proceedings and had not   complained of any infringement of their defence rights.   Accordingly, the Court concluded that there had been no violation of Article 7 of the Convention in   respect of the first group of applicants.   Second group of applicants   The Court noted that a penalty had been imposed on these applicants even though they had not   been parties to the criminal proceedings and had never been formally charged with any offence. The   domestic courts had considered that they had not acted in good faith and that all the elements of   2. G.I.E.M. S.r.l. and Others v. Italy [GC], nos. 1828/06 and 2 others, 28 June 2018.   the offence had been made out in their respect. However, these applicants had not even been   informed that the criminal proceedings had ended with a penalty being imposed on them, and only   learned of it informally. Furthermore, in the enforcement proceedings they had not been able to   raise complaints concerning the constituent elements of the offence of unlawful site development.   Their ability to defend themselves had therefore been seriously limited, in view of the arguments   they could have raised had they been parties to the criminal proceedings.   The Court thus found as follows:   (a) Where the domestic authorities considered that buyers of property were jointly liable, with the   sellers, for the commission of the criminal offence of unlawful site development and that a penalty   should, as in the present case, be imposed on them, then that liability first had to be established in   proceedings that complied with the criminal-head guarantees under Article 6. The proceedings could   be conducted jointly with, or separately from, those brought against the sellers.   (b) Where, on the other hand, the domestic authorities were of the view that it was not justified to   prosecute buyers of property resulting from an unlawful development scheme, then it was likewise   not justified to impose a penalty on them and retrospectively to find them criminally liable.   (c) The domestic authorities were free to use other, non-criminal instruments to return the land to   its statutory intended use, as appropriate.   Accordingly, the Court concluded that the imposition of a penalty on the second group of applicants,   without their having been parties to the criminal proceedings or having first been convicted, and on   the basis of a substantive finding of liability in the context of an interlocutory application for review   of an enforcement order, was not compatible with the requirements of Article 7 of the Convention.   That provision had therefore been violated.   Article 1 of Protocol No. 1   The Court considered that the confiscation of the applicants’ land and buildings amounted to an   interference with their entitlement to the peaceful enjoyment of their possessions. That   interference was based on section 18 (offence of unlawful site development) and section 19 (penalty   of confiscation) of Law no. 47 of 28 February 1985, and pursued a public-interest aim (land-use   policy and environmental protection).   Regarding the proportionality of the interference in respect of the first group of applicants, the   domestic courts had not explained why it had been necessary to confiscate indiscriminately all the   plots of land indicated in the building permits, totalling some 97,000 square metres. The buildings   that had been constructed and sold for tourism purposes had a footprint of less than 300 square   metres, and even the surface area of the land allocated to them under the “white zone” regime was   significantly smaller than the confiscated total. In the absence of any reasoning in that regard in the   domestic decisions, the Court concluded that the measure was disproportionate. It held that the   Italian State had failed to strike a fair balance between the public and private interests at stake and   that the first group of applicants had had to bear an excessive and impractical burden. There had   therefore been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 in their respect.   As to the proportionality of the interference in respect of the second group of applicants, the   Court considered that the procedural obligations under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 had not been   complied with in the present case. The applicants had not been given the opportunity to take part in   the proceedings that had led to the confiscation of their property. As a rule, such participation was   necessary for the protection of property owners’ rights. Although the applicants had been able to   assert their good faith before the domestic courts, certain circumstances that had been established   during the criminal proceedings could no longer be examined at that stage. That was clear from the   Palermo Court of Appeal’s considerations as to the intended use of the land, which the applicants   were unable to challenge. A penalty had therefore been imposed on them for their participation in   the offence, but they had not, however, been able to put forward their arguments on all the   constituent elements. Furthermore, the enforcement judge had undoubtedly been influenced by the   outcome of the criminal proceedings, in which the intended use of the land and the non-compliance   of the buildings with land-use regulations had already been established in a final ruling. In those   circumstances, the Court found that there had been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 in   respect of these applicants.   Just satisfaction (Article 41)   With regard to the first group of applicants, the Court held that Italy was to pay them jointly   80,000 euros (EUR) in respect of pecuniary damage, EUR 6,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage   and EUR 10,000 for costs and expenses.   Regarding the second group of applicants, the Court held that Italy was to pay Ms Marsala   EUR 10,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage and EUR 15,000 for costs and expenses. It was also   to pay Mr Damato and Ms Lodato jointly EUR 10,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage and   EUR 16,000 for costs and expenses.   The Court further held that the Italian State was to return the confiscated property to the applicants   in the first group and to Ms Marsala, one of the applicants in the second group (the other two   applicants in the second group had obtained the return of the purchase price paid and the   termination of the contract of sale in the domestic courts).   The judgment is available only in French.   This press release is a document produced by the Registry. It does not bind the Court. Decisions,   judgments and further information about the Court can be found on www.echr.coe.int.   Follow the Court on Bluesky @echr.coe.int, X ECHR_CEDH, LinkedIn, and YouTube.   Contact ECHRPress to subscribe to the press-release mailing list.   Where can the Court’s press releases be found? 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