Seizure of weapons and ammunition
An important ruling regarding the contestation of hunting practice in unmarked protected area comes from the Court of Brindisi. The case originates from the contestation of two hunters of article 30 paragraph 1, letter d) L. 157/92, in particular of the hunting exercise in an area expressly prohibited by the Wildlife Hunting Plan of the Puglia Region and more precisely in the locality of "Cillarese" in the Province of Brindisi. The two hunters were charged with the aforementioned crime with all the consequences in order to seize the weapons and ammunition and the beginning of the judicial ordeal that began on 29 September 2021 ended with the publication of the sentence of the Court of Brindisi signed by Judge Dr. Leonardo Convertini of 12 November 2024.
Previous convictions
In his closing argument, the Public Prosecutor had requested a sentence of four months' arrest and a fine of €1000,00 for both defendants. Attorney Giuseppe De Bartolomeo of the Lecce Bar Association, the defense attorney for the two hunters, argued, by hearing witnesses on his behalf and with a large amount of documentation, the non-existence of the crime charged, requesting the acquittal of the two clients. Well, the Court of Brindisi, in drafting the reasons for the sentence, supported the defense argument of Attorney De Bartolomeo and reached the same conclusions, definitively clarifying that the ban on hunting in a permanent wildlife protection area, if indicated by appropriate signage (art. 10 Law 11 February 1992 No. 157), is enforceable against the offender and relieves the prosecution from the burden of proof; Conversely, in the absence of signs, the hunting ban is presumed to be unknown and the prosecution must demonstrate that, despite the absence of signs, the offender was nevertheless aware of the prohibition.
The detail of the sentence
Attorney Giuseppe De Bartolomeo expressed satisfaction with the full acquittal of the two clients, declaring: "the ruling of the Court of Brindisi constitutes an important jurisprudential starting point and definitively puts a stop to illegitimate disputes in areas without signage where the signage itself is, in most cases, the responsibility of public bodies" the attorney continues "it is important to underline that, unlike the past orientation in which it was the hunter who had to "inform himself in advance" of the areas in which he could practice hunting, now it will be the burden of the prosecution to prove that the hunter was aware of the ban in the case of unsigned areas" (source: Arci Caccia).
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