Tribunal of Catanzaro excludes SkyECC evidence: no remedy in France, no use in Italy

In its judgment of 9 October 2026 (reasons filed on 6 November 2026), the judge for the preliminary hearing of the Tribunal of Catanzaro excluded all SkyECC chats that Italy had obtained from France through three European Investigation Orders and acquitted the defendants on every charge that rested solely on those chats, including membership of a mafia-type association. At the defence's request, the court had itself issued an EIO under Art. 32 of Directive 2014/41/EU to preserve the French file and to establish whether the original EIOs had been notified. France refused, and the defendants, who are not parties to the French proceedings, had been denied all access there. No recognition decision and no notification of the EIOs existed. Relying on Art. 14(7) of the Directive, CJEU C-670/22 and the pending referral in C-625/25, the court held that the defendants had no effective remedy in either State and treated the French evidence as non-existent. The abbreviated procedure did not cure the breach. The judgment is not final.