Italian man brought to Malta to face various charges released from breach of bail proceedings due to rule of speciality

An Italian national who was extradited earlier this year was released from proceedings brought against him pertaining to the breach of bail conditions, on the grounds that his extradition was ordered with an exclusion to such offence.

Gennaro Russo, a 32-year-old Italian man who currently faces separate charges of drug-trafficking and money laundering, was initially granted bail under numerous conditions, including the inability to leave Maltese territory. Authorisation to travel to Naples was however granted earlier this year.

The failure on the part of the defendant to return to Malta by the date set by the Court subsequently led to the issuance of a European Arrest Warrant (EAW), so that he would be extradited to Malta in order to face the aforementioned charges of drug-trafficking and money laundering, as well as a charge of breaching bail conditions. Proceedings in Italy, including an appeal heard by the Italian Corte di Cassazione, confirmed that said extradition was to be effected.

Proceedings against Russo relating to the breach of bail conditions were instituted the day following his return in August 2024.

In these proceedings, it was confirmed by the defence that the validity of the arrest would not be contested except as regards the so-called ‘rule of speciality’, which, simply put, is a rule of a procedural nature which posits that a person surrendered (that is, brought to the state requesting his extradition) is not to be prosecuted or sentenced for an offence which they may have committed prior to their surrender other than that for which they were so surrendered. This is a rule essentially set out in the Framework Decision on European Arrest Warrant.

In this regard, the Court noted that the arrest warrant made reference both to the charges of drug-trafficking as well as the breach of bail conditions. Yet, it was simultaneously clear that the Italian courts authorised the extradition with an exclusion to the offence of breach of bail conditions, which does not exist in Italian Law.

The Court, noting the validity of the defence raised in this regard, held that in light of the fact that the extradition was executed with an exclusion to the offence of breach of bail conditions, the prosecution could not, upon the arrival of the defendant, institute proceedings based on such breach of bail conditions.  

In another judgment, which was referred to in the decision at hand, reference was made to a legal professor who states that: “States which maintain extradition relations between themselves have no option but to observe the limitation of competence; the alternatives are either to observe it or to waive their extradition relations completely.”

Ultimately, the Court acceded to the request made by the defence of Gennaro Russo to apply the rule of speciality. It noted that it had no competence to continue hearing the case. This is the first time in which an Italian national was released on this basis.

The defendant was represented by lawyer Matthew Xuereb.