Italy: Lawyer Giovanni Allegra threatened with a weapon by a client in his office
19 June 2026
Giovanni Allegra, a member of the Termini Imerese Bar, was held at gunpoint for about an hour and a half by a gunman in his own office. The man was seeking a legal document to be drawn up in his favour.
It was only thanks to the lawyer’s composure – having drafted the document under duress, and under threat of having to file it the following day – that the worst was prevented. The man was arrested following the complaint lodged by the lawyer.
The OIAD emphasises the seriousness of the incident, expressing its solidarity with Ms Allegra and the Termini Imerese Bar Association, and expresses its deep concern at the rise in cases of threats and attacks against lawyers in Italy and across Europe, carried out with the aim of intimidation, thereby undermining their freedom and independence in the performance of their duties.
The OIAD points out that that the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of the Legal Profession, adopted on 12 March 2025 and opened for signature by States on 13 May 2025, which has to date been signed by 34 States (including Italy), provides that:
- State Parties shall ensure that lawyers can “agree or refuse to accept any natural or legal persons as their clients and terminate the lawyer-client relationship” (Article 6, §1, b.)
- State Parties “shall ensure that lawyers and their professional associations are able to carry out their professional activities and to exercise their rights under Article 7 of this Convention without being the target of any form of physical attack, threat, harassment or intimidation (…)” (Article 9, §4, a.)
The OIAD, bearing in mind that at least eight ratifications are required for the convention to enter into force, including six by member states of the Council of Europe, and that to date no ratifications have taken place, calls on the signatory states to ratify the convention as soon as possible, in order to ensure the effective adoption of measures to protect the legal profession, mindful that any attack on those who practise law is an attack on the safeguards upon which the rule of law and democracy are based.
