Violation of the obligations of family assistance: when it is not punishable

Today we will address a case treated by our study

C. was sued to answer for the crime referred to in art. 570 of the penal code and the single judge of A. sentenced her to the punishment of justice.

The first instance sentence was challenged by the defendant before the Court of Appeal which shared the argumentative path of the defense and acquitted the defendant.

According to the defense, in fact, the first instance judge did not assess, among other things, that the non-payment of the monthly child support allowance had occurred for a short period of time and, in the meantime, the defendant proved that it had been made a payment of the check in cash and, in absolute good faith, not through a "tracked" system.

The Court of Appeal shared the argumentative path of the defense, noting that the defendant's behavior was not symptomatic of a voluntary withdrawal from the obligations of assistance also due to the short period of time in which the allowance was not paid and the fact that the sum had been paid in cash.

The Court also pointed out that the existence of willful misconduct against the appellant was not demonstrable and therefore acquitted the accused with a broad formula (because the fact does not constitute a crime).