L¿APPELLO DEL PUBBLICO MINISTERO CONTRO LE SENTENZE DI PROSCIOGLIMENTO

This PhD thesis focuses on the power to appeal of the public prosecutor against the acquittal. Within an historical perspective, the Author starts with an analysis of the issues related to the overturning of the acquittal given by the first-instance judge, rendered without a direct assessment of the oral evidence. This analysis has been also carried out through the decisions rendered by the European Court of Human Right and the Italian Supreme Court, trying to underline the progressive compliance of the Italian jurisprudence to the European one. In this scenario, the main principle ruled by the Italian Supreme Court requires the Court of Appeal the renewal of the trial evidentiary hearing, when the evidence provided for the acquittal by the first-instance judge have been re-evaluated to prove the guilty. After the reconstruction of the legal and case-law framework, this thesis offers some insights on the relationship between the overturning mechanism and the rights of defense and on the nature of the Appeal.