News Supreme Court rulings May 2016

Stealing a pair of slippers from the gym is aggravated theft

The Fourth Criminal Section of the Supreme Court, in ruling no. 17001/2016, ruled that attempting to steal a pair of flip-flops from a gymnasium can constitute the crime of grand theft.
Indeed, the courts of legitimacy have made it clear that the aggravating circumstance of exposing property to the public faith can be found whenever surveillance over a place is exercised in a noncontinuous manner and in such a way as to be incapable of preventing free access to it by the public.

Spying on others’ emails is a crime

A recent ruling by the Supreme Court (No. 13057/2016) shows that spying on someone else’s password-protected e-mail box in order to view the messages contained therein constitutes the crime of abusive access to a computer system under Art. 615-ter of the Criminal Code, since such conduct clearly reveals the intention to violate a confidential and exclusive computer space.

Supreme Court: speeding fines void if the driver’s state of necessity is proven

The Civil Court of Cassation, in ruling 7198/2016, has ruled that a speeding fine should be annulled if the state of necessity of the driver of the vehicle has been confirmed by the emergency room certificate and several res judgments that have passed res judicata annulling other fines issued in connection with the same matter.