I'm afraid at home: what can I get straight away?
A protection order, which a civil judge can make quickly and without waiting for a criminal trial: it requires the person to leave the family home and bars them from the places you frequent. In parallel, by reporting the matter, criminal precautionary measures can be sought. The two routes do not exclude each other and often move together.
If I report it, can I change my mind later?
It depends on the offence. For some, a complaint can be withdrawn; for others — domestic abuse, for instance — the prosecution proceeds of its own motion and continues even if you change your mind. That is something to know beforehand, not afterwards: at the first consultation we tell you which of the two applies.
What is needed to prove domestic abuse?
Continuity, more than any single incident. What is needed is material showing repeated conduct: emergency department records, messages, witnesses, contact with services, a diary with dates. A precise list of dated facts carries far more weight than a general description, however true.
I've been wrongly accused: what do I do first?
Do not contact the person accusing you and do not delete anything from your phone: those are the two mistakes that damage a position more than anything else. Then gather everything that reconstructs the context — messages, movements, witnesses — and take it to a lawyer immediately. A defence is built in the first weeks, not at the hearing.
Can a complaint be used to gain an advantage in a separation?
It happens, and it is one of the most delicate situations in this field. Criminal proceedings, though, have their own rules: what counts is corroboration, not assertion. Our job is to keep the two matters distinct and document the facts, without letting the criminal case become a weapon in the civil one.
He isn't paying maintenance: is that a crime or just a breach?
It can be both. Failing to meet family support obligations is a criminal offence, but to recover the money the civil route is usually faster: third-party attachment acts directly on the salary. Where the behaviour has been repeating for years, the criminal route adds a deterrent the civil one does not have on its own.
What is the "codice rosso"?
It is the set of rules that speeds up proceedings for domestic and gender-based violence: the complainant must be heard within a few days of reporting, and faster protective measures are available. In practice it means timescales are considerably shorter than in ordinary proceedings.
Do the children have to give evidence?
It is avoided as far as possible, and where unavoidable it is done under protective arrangements: a hearing assisted by a psychologist, often taken once and preserved so it need not be repeated. Involving children is the most delicate aspect of these proceedings and is kept to the minimum necessary.