Miscarriages of justice, how to calculate compensation to the innocent person

There are three restorative benefits provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure in cases of miscarriage of justice. Either the payment of a sum of money, which - unlike reparation for wrongful imprisonment - is unspecified in its maximum amount and must be commensurate with the duration of any sentence served or internment and the personal and family consequences of the conviction. Or the establishment of a life annuity, taking into account the condition of the innocent person and the nature of the damage. Or admission to an institution at state expense.

For cases of wrongful imprisonment, on the other hand, reparation can be made through the payment of a cash sum or through the establishment of a life annuity. The maximum amount of compensation for wrongful imprisonment is EUR 516,456.90, calculated on the basis of the maximum duration of pre-trial detention in prison (6 years) and a daily sum of EUR 235.82.

Before Zuncheddu could file his claim, he had to go through a retrial to prove his innocence. This is an extraordinary remedy that allows a final criminal judgement to be reviewed in the Court of Appeal due to circumstances that were not known at the time of the original trial. However, there are only specific cases in which it is possible.

1) Decisive new evidence. Revision may be obtained if new evidence emerges which, if known at the time of the trial, would have led to an acquittal.

2) Evidentiary inconsistencies. It must be shown that the evidence used for the conviction was false or seriously erroneous.

3) Conviction of another person. If it is established that the offence was committed by another person.

The most striking case in Italy is that of Beniamino Zuncheddu, the Sardinian shepherd sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1991 massacre in Sinnai, southern Sardinia. In that massacre, Gesuino Fadda, his son Giuseppe and employee Ignazio Pusceddu were shot dead. Only Luigi Pinna, who was Beniamino's main accuser, was saved in the ambush, although he later admitted in the revision trial that he had been induced to accuse the Sardinian shepherd by a superintendent of the Criminal Police, Mario Uda, who is now under investigation for the deception in the massacre carried out in the sheepfold of Cuile is Coccus, in the mountains between Sinnai and Burcei.

Beniamino has been in prison as an innocent man for almost 33 years. Just over a year after his acquittal, he has still not received any compensation for the material and existential damage he has suffered. He has only received about EUR 30,000 - exactly EUR 30,187 - from the State for having spent years in small and overcrowded cells, as established by the Cagliari Surveillance Court, for his treatment since 28 February 1990 in the Buoncammino prison, in Cagliari (now closed) and in the Badu 'e Carros prison, in the Nuoro area. The Ministry of Justice had opposed this measure, but the panel chaired by Cristina Ornano ruled in favour of Zuncheddu, who suffered 'inhuman and degrading imprisonment, in violation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights'. For the almost 33 years he spent in prison as an innocent man, Beniamino has still not received any relief. Lawyer Trogu, with a pool of experts, is preparing a claim for compensation to be submitted to the Court of Appeal in Rome. His story is told by the Sole 24 Ore and Radio 24 podcast Innocente.

According to data compiled by the website errorigiudiziari.com in Italy from 1991 to 31 December 2024 there were a total of 31,949 cases of miscarriages of justice and wrongful imprisonment, costing almost one billion euro in compensation. An average of EUR 29.49 million per year. Of these, as many as 31,727 concern cases of unfair detention (people who ended up in pre-trial detention and then turned out to be innocent). On the other hand, there were 222 genuine miscarriages of justice (final convictions annulled by a review process) up to 31 December 2022 (the figures are firm). On average almost 7 per year. Spending on compensation rose to EUR 86,206,214 (an average of just under EUR 2.694 million per year).

It takes a very long time to obtain compensation, both for the judicial process and the subsequent administrative procedure. 'On the one hand, it is laborious to prepare the file,' Trogu recalls, 'on the other hand, experience tells us that the judicial proceedings and the subsequent administrative procedure for the actual settlement are also very long. The popular initiative Zuncheddu law proposal tends to stem the drawbacks of these delays, recognising a minimum accompanying pension automatically at the end of the process, precisely to prevent those who have suffered the error from being left years without economic means'. Precisely to advocate the approval of this popular initiative bill Beniamino Zuncheddu returned to prison last year, but this time as a free man. Accompanied by Irene Testa, guarantor of prisoners in Sardinia and treasurer of the Radical Party, who brought the former Sardinian shepherd's case to national attention, in the theatre of the Rebibbia prison, Beniamino reminded everyone how important it is to sign in support of the popular initiative law that aims to grant a monthly allowance to the unjustly convicted prisoner until compensation is paid. Because those who come out after spending years behind bars unjustly find themselves alone, without work, without a pension, without being able to have a family, without means of support. Alone, with the consequences of maljustice.