Overview

• Judge Roberto Spanò chose to transfer to the civil division effective September 8 after the CSM initiated a conflict-of-interest review over his wife, prosecutor Roberta Panico.
• The CSM plenary will vote on July 16 on a first commission recommendation to archive the incompatibility case and allow Spanò to continue presiding over pending criminal trials.
• Only 22 of the 139 witnesses in the Piazza della Loggia trial have testified so the case is not near conclusion and could require a full restart under a new judge.
• The trial against Roberto Zorzi, accused of executing the neo-fascist bombing that killed eight and wounded 102 in 1974, reopened in February 2024 but has been repeatedly adjourned.
• Chronic shortages of judges and strict ethics safeguards have compounded procedural setbacks in one of Italy’s most significant domestic terrorism prosecutions.