Almasri case: the Constitutional Court requires cooperation requests from the International Criminal Court to be transmitted

In judgment no. 143 of 2026, delivered in constitutional review proceedings referred by the Rome Court of Appeal on the statute implementing the Rome Statute, the Constitutional Court ruled out any discretionary filtering power of the Minister of Justice over cooperation requests coming from the International Criminal Court: once the request is received, it must be forwarded without delay to the Prosecutor General at the Rome Court of Appeal, who holds the power to initiate judicial proceedings.

The ruling redraws the boundary between political direction and international cooperation obligations, narrowing the room for governmental assessment of ICC requests. For defence counsel and for entities exposed to proceedings with a supranational dimension, surrender and cooperation channels become more predictable: decisions on enforcement return to the courts, with safeguards of legality and review that are worth monitoring from the earliest stages.

Summary note by the CommercialistiAvvocati network, based on specialised legal and practice sources. The text does not reproduce original contributions and does not constitute professional advice.