# desperate for advice



## eleda (Oct 31, 2014)

HI, im new and desperate, not sure if i should be posting here but im not an expat but need advice on italian law and how it works, since my daughter was raped there and now they are filing a crime against her, where she could end up in an italian prison. I do have a dealine within 2 weeks and dont even have a solicitor yet.

I will explain a bit more once i know its ok to come here for advice.


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## yosheryosh (Mar 4, 2013)

Hire a lawyer?


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## eleda (Oct 31, 2014)

dont have the money and cant get legal aid for foreign courts


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Not sure you'll be able to find what you need here on the forum. But have you tried contacting your consulate in Italy? Start here: https://www.gov.uk/government/world/organisations/british-embassy-rome
Cheers,
Bev


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## eleda (Oct 31, 2014)

i have tried italian an english embassy. ive rang hundreds of organizations up an down the uk. nobody in uk can help. i have to get italian lawyer but dont have the funds. im not looking for detailed legal advice. whats happened is my 21 year old daughter got raped in italy in may. but now they are filing a false allegation against her. she could spend 4 to 12 year in an italian prison.
what i dont understand is, her rape allegation is still ongoing. so theres 2 seperate crimes here. how can it be a false allegation claim whilst the rape is still going on. i could understand if the rapist was found not guilty but it hasnt gone to court yet.
would like someone to clarify how this law works in italy.


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

Most likely the other person denied everything.

Nobody spends time in an Italian prison. To put things into perspective attempted rape doesn't always carry jail time.

legale accoglienza

That's in Rome but you could try emailing them and asking for some guidance. Hopefully they answer email.


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## Falcio (Oct 9, 2012)

Wait a moment there. 
I'm no lawyer, but I have a friend working in the field and I know that by the Italian law, the standard rape-case goes like this:
The accused is immediately arrested for 48 hours, no questions asked. Then the burden of proof rests on the defendant, because the report is treated like a witness account, therefore it constitutes a piece of evidence. Just 'deny everything' doesn't cut it; the defendant is basically considered guilty until proved innocent (which is actually against the constitution, but nobody seems to care)
The defendant can raise a lawsuit for defamation, but unless the judge is on drugs, it cannot proceed before the end of the trial for rape, because there is no proof that the accusation is indeed false, and the law is strongly biased towards women. Unlike in the UK, being drunk does not always shift the whole responsibility on the accused.
Now, the Italian justice system is veeeery slow, but it's highly unlikely that the second case will get anywhere before the first one...for crying out loud, it might well end up barred, while the accusation of rape will continue for a long time.

If you accuse someone of rape but end up facing charges for a false report, that will not get you any jail time. Worst that will happen is that you get fined, but that's very, very rare. In Italy a yearly average of 45% of rape accusations are -proven- to be false, but false accusers often get off with less than a slap on the wrist...which often encourages false accusations.
Foreigners from some countries are used to their one sided laws and take them for granted, but over here they are A BIT less one dimensional, even while still being overly biased.
If what your daughter says is true, there is nothing to fear. If it is false, odds are that there is still nothing to fear...for her, that is, because the falsely accused will still have a ruined life just because of the accusation. :\


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