Justice

Minetti case, can the pardon be revoked? Here are the cases

The measure came last February with a decree by Head of State Mattarella

by Rome Editorial Staff

28 April 2026

11/01/2022 Roma, Il palazzo del Quirinale Francesco Fotia / AGF

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The Grace
Revocation
The responsibility of the Ministry of Justice and the prosecutor in Appeal

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The 'Minetti case', in which it is obviously premature to draw conclusions, has given rise to a legal doubt: can the pardon granted by the President of the Republic be revoked? The doubt arose after the letter sent by the Quirinale to the Ministry of Justice to carry out further investigations into the situation of Nicole Minetti, whose 3 years and 11 months sentence for aiding and abetting prostitution and embezzlement were cancelled with the pardon received from Sergio Mattarella in February.

The Grace

Let us start with the Constitution. The pardon is included among the powers of the Head of State: it is he who, with a special decree, can extinguish, in whole or in part, "the penalty inflicted with the irrevocable sentence or transform it into another type of penalty provided for by law (for example temporary imprisonment instead of life imprisonment or a fine instead of imprisonment). A pardon also extinguishes accessory penalties, if the decree expressly provides for this; it does not, however, extinguish the other penal effects of the conviction (art. 174 of the criminal code)". Pursuant to Article 681 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, it also states, 'it may be subject to conditions'.

The revocation

If the pardon has been conditionally granted and the recipient commits a new non-culpable offence within 5 years of the presidential decree (10 years in the case of a pardon relating to life imprisonment) for which he is sentenced to a term of imprisonment, the benefit is revoked as of right. The revocation is ordered by the execution judge. In the event of revocation, the pardoned sentence becomes enforceable again. However, the Minetti case does not fall under this heading.

On the other hand, should it emerge that the pardon was granted on the basis of false or concealed assumptions, a new ministerial procedure could be opened to assess the validity of the original decree.

'Since this is an exceptional measure,' Alfonso Celotto, professor of Constitutional Law at the Roma Tre University, reiterated to Ansa, 'the whole situation must be assessed. It must be clearly understood whether the pardon was granted on erroneous premises and whether it then becomes revocable or modifiable'. Celotto recalled that 'it is a general principle of law that of the equal and opposite act, i.e. one can never exclude that there is room for a pardon to be revoked if it turns out that the pardon had been granted on the basis of non-existent or non-confirming assumptions'.

The responsibility of the Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor in Appeal

What is specified by the Hill, however, is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice. And also of the Attorney General in the Court of Appeal: in this case Gaetano Brusa, who said that he had 'acquired the data and carried out the investigations requested by the ministry. The procedure concerning the request for pardon came to us from the ministry at the end of 2025. Based on what was requested, the picture was complete and no anomalous data emerged. The documentary acquisition was done through the carabinieri's medical findings'.

A procedure highlighted by the Quirinale. "The request for pardon," reads the specific section, "is addressed to the President of the Republic and must be submitted to the Minister of Justice. "The Attorney General at the Court of Appeal expresses his opinion on the request or proposal for pardon and, if the convicted person is detained - even at home - or assigned on probation to the social service, the surveillance magistrate. To this end, they acquire any useful information concerning, inter alia, the legal position of the convicted person, the pardoning of persons damaged by the offence, the cognitive data provided by the Police Forces, the assessments of the heads of the penal establishments".

Once the opinions have been acquired, "the Minister transmits the request or proposal for pardon, accompanied by the acts of the preliminary investigation, to the Head of State, accompanying it with his own 'opinion', favourable or contrary to the granting of the benefit. As established by the Constitutional Court in ruling no. 200 of 2006, the Head of State is responsible for the final decision. Article 681 of the Code of Criminal Procedure also provides that a pardon may be granted ex officio, i.e. in the absence of an application and proposal, but always after the preliminary investigation has been completed".