ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Giovanni F Casucci, Matteo Casucci, Serena Spadavecchia and Alice Niccoli, GA-Alliance
In order to be awarded, the winning party has to pro - vide evidence of the costs incurred (mainly through invoices) either during the evidentiary phase or, if incurred later, in the final pleadings.
while the Supreme Court (after the appeal stage) only reviews legal issues. The Court of Appeal decides the case only on the specific grounds of appeal submitted by the appeal - ing party. It is then up to the appealing party to clearly set out the issues they wish to appeal in the writ of summons introducing the appeal stage. Appeals are primarily decided on written submissions, although at least one or two formal hearings are typically held. 9. Criminal Offences 9.1 Prosecution Process, Penalties and Defences Trade secret theft constitutes a criminal offence that is prosecutable only upon the complaint of the trade secret holder. The holder must file a complaint with the public prosecutor within three months of becom - ing aware, or of when they reasonably should have become aware, of the theft. Depending on the seriousness of the crime and whether IT instruments are involved, the penalty for trade secret theft is imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to approximately EUR1,000. The available defences in criminal proceedings largely mirror those in civil cases. However, a criminal charge may be dismissed if it is not proven that the offence involved fraudulent intent and/or resulted in actual gain. The trade secret holder has several rights during the criminal process: • prior to trial, they may authorise private investiga - tions to collect evidence of the theft; • during the preliminary investigation, they may actively suggest avenues of enquiry, request that the public prosecutor pursue certain lines of inves - tigation, or prompt the judge to admit additional evidence in support of the prosecution’s case; and • at all stages and levels of the proceedings, they may submit written briefs to both the public pros - ecutor and the judge, and suggest further evidence to support the charges.
8. Appeal 8.1 Appellate Procedure
It is important to distinguish the appeal at the prelimi - nary measures stage from the appeal on the ordinary proceedings. Decisions issued in urgent proceedings (eg, granting or dismissing preliminary injunctions and/or seizure claims) can be appealed, both by the claimant and respondent, within 15 days. After the first hearing, which is normally held within one/two months from the filing of the appeal, the new decision – unless the panel of judges orders a further or new court expert stage (which may add up to six months) – is issued a few weeks later and cannot be appealed further. Decisions issued in ordinary proceedings (ie, proceed - ings on the merit) can be appealed within six months from the issuing or – if the losing party is notified of the decision – 30 days from the day of the notification. The judge usually schedules only two formal hear - ings, and the parties then have two rounds of written defences to present the case, reply and make their conclusion and final requests. These proceedings can last up to two to three years. The decision issued can be contested before the Supreme Court (but only for issues concerning the implementation and/or inter - pretation of the law). The appeal process does not differ depending on the In appeals against decisions issued in urgent pro - ceedings, it is possible to add facts and documents/ evidence, and the appeal judges review both factual and legal issues. The appeal courts in merit proceedings review de novo factual and legal issues of the first-instance court, court where the case was filed. 8.2 Factual or Legal Review
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