Italian Court of Cassation on defence access to trojan log files: requests must be specific

In a judgment decided on 3 July 2025 and filed on 9 October 2025, the Sixth Criminal Section of the Italian Court of Cassation annulled without referral the precautionary orders against the appellant and ordered his release, because the need for precautionary measures had not been shown. The Court also addressed the defence request for the log files of the server architecture used for interceptions by trojan (captatore informatico). Referring to the Joint Civil Chambers (n. 22302/2021), it accepted that log files documenting capture, recording and listening form part of the interception material. A request for them must, however, state specific reasons and a concrete impact on the evidence relied on; a generic, exploratory request may be refused. The reasoning is relevant to requests for the log files of the French EncroChat and SkyECC operations, which Italian courts have so far refused.