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Commentary on Judgment No. 17171 of 2023: Harassment and Abuse of Process

The recent judgment No. 17171 of January 16, 2023, by the Court of Cassation provides important clarifications regarding the configurability of harassment acts, highlighting how repeated and unfounded legal actions can constitute the crime of harassment. In particular, the case examined concerns an alleged creditor who undertook twenty-three legal actions in ten years, based on forged documents. This conduct was deemed not only abusive but also constituted harassment towards the debtor.

The Notion of Harassment Acts and Forgery

According to Article 612-bis of the Penal Code, harassment acts are defined as behaviors that constitute harassment and harm the freedom and dignity of a person. In the case examined, the creditor's behavior translated into a series of unfounded legal actions, using forged documents to justify their claims. This approach led the Court to conclude that such actions constitute not only an abuse of process but also harassment.

The judgment clarifies that the repetition of legal actions, in the absence of a valid legal basis, not only harms the debtor but also constitutes a crime in itself. In this regard, it is useful to consider the following aspects:

  • Forging documents: The use of forged documents to initiate legal actions is severely punished by law.
  • Repetition of legal actions: Where there is a continuous and unjustified legal aggression, the crime of harassment is configured.
  • Abuse of process: The improper use of legal institutions for personal persecution purposes is condemned by case law.
Harassment acts - Harassment - Notion - Repeated legal actions based on forged documents - Configurability - Reasons - Abuse of process - Existence. In the matter of harassment acts, the repeated actions promoted in civil court (in this case, twenty-three in ten years), based on a single contractual reason, by an alleged creditor who had created executive titles based on documents he forged and had therefore relied on facts he knowingly invented for the unilateral and unjustified aggravation of the debtor's position, realized through abuse of process, since the forgery of titles and the repetition of the legal action are causative of one of the alternative events provided for by Article 612-bis of the Penal Code.

Legal Implications and Conclusions

Judgment No. 17171 of 2023 represents an important affirmation of Italian case law regarding harassment acts and abuse of process. It emphasizes the need for responsible use of legal actions and warns against the consequences of abusive conduct. Victims of such abuses can take advantage of the protection offered by the law, while those who initiate unfounded legal actions risk severe criminal penalties.

In a legal context increasingly attentive to the protection of individual rights, this judgment serves as a deterrent against improper behavior, promoting greater responsibility in the use of legal tools.