Sant'Agnello – The intricate legal battle over the social housing complex in Sant'Agnello, in the province of Naples, has ended with an eviction order.
Yesterday, October 20, 2025, the Torre Annunziata Public Prosecutor's Office issued the enforcement order to vacate the building complex on Via GM Gargiulo, delegating joint enforcement to the Carabinieri of the Company and the Sorrento State Police Station.
The operation, which will see the eviction of 37 families occupying the same number of the 53 seized housing units, comes at the culmination of a long and "troubled" procedural process, as the Prosecutor's Office itself describes it, which lasted over five years between the preliminary investigations judge, the Court of Review, and the Court of Cassation.
The judicial epic: seizure, revocations and the Supreme Court
The complex, a private social housing initiative consisting of 53 apartments, garages, and ancillary rooms, had come under scrutiny by the judiciary for alleged illegal construction in a protected area.
The first act dates back to February 28, 2020, with the precautionary seizure ordered by the Torre Annunziata GIP.
The precautionary measure was then subject to a veritable legal back-and-forth: confirmed by the Review Court in June 2020, revoked in March 2021 (upholding an appeal by entrepreneur Antonio Elefante), and finally definitively reinstated on March 18, 2022, by the Review Court, acting as referral judge after the Court of Cassation annulled the case with referral following an appeal by the Prosecutor's Office.
The turning point on the 'urban load'
The eviction order, ordered by the Prosecutor's Office in March 2022, was suspended by the investigating judge, admitting an incident involving the squatters' execution, pending the final verdict. The Prosecutor's Office firmly opposed this decision, taking the case back to the Supreme Court of Cassation.
The turning point came with the Supreme Court's ruling of March 13, 2024, which, by annulling and referring the order unfavorable to the Prosecutor's Office, established two fundamental principles:
The enforcement judge cannot reassess the periculum in mora (the risk of damage) of the seizure, invading the prerogatives of the prosecuting body.
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In assessing the "necessity" of an eviction order for urban planning offenses, it is necessary to take into account the actual increase in the "urban planning burden" generated by the occupied illegal structure, even if completed.
Strengthened by these principles, the Torre Annunziata preliminary investigations judge, on February 26, 2025, finally confirmed the eviction order, deeming it "proportionate and indispensable." The judge explicitly questioned the good faith of the occupants and reiterated that the eviction was necessary to prevent the "prolongation of the effects of the crime" and ensure the preventive purposes of the seizure, in view of a possible mandatory confiscation of the property.
Notifications in progress: 60 days to vacate the properties
The final legal blow came on September 17, 2025, when the Court of Cassation declared inadmissible the appeal filed by some of the squatting families against the preliminary hearing judge's February order. With this ruling, the eviction order became final.
The Prosecutor's Office reiterated that the release of the properties is "an unavoidable means of implementing the precautionary measure," both to prevent the worsening of the crime's consequences and for "fairness" toward the other prospective purchaser families who had refrained from occupying the property pending the seizure.
The order is being served, and the 37 families occupying the building have been given 60 days, until December 20, 2025, to vacate their homes. After that date, forced eviction will take place.
The main trial for illegal construction is still pending before the Torre Annunziata Court.
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