Italian justice writes the last, definitive chapter of one of the most tormented environmental events of recent years. The Court of Cassation, through order number 282/2026 issued by the United Civil Sections on Friday 3 July, rejected the appeal presented by the Autonomous Province of Trento. Governor Maurizio Fugatti had attempted to overturn the previous decision of the Council of State, which had declared the culling decree signed on 7 September 2023 illegitimate.
Although the plantigrade was unfortunately found dead due to a gunshot on 27 September in Val Bondone, today’s ruling represents an epochal legal watershed. The verdict fully accepts the defense arguments presented by the LNDC Animal Protection, LAV and WWF Italia associations, protected in legal proceedings by the lawyers Paolo Emilio Letrari and Michele Pezone.
The institutional short circuit and the sins of man
The core of the ordinance dismantles the administrative scaffolding used to justify the bloody action. The judges of legitimacy ascertained that the Trentino administration and ISPRA had completely misrepresented the original facts. The key episode of 30 July 2023, in which the bear was the protagonist of a false close-range attack, was in fact triggered by the behavior of two hikers who had not followed the official guidelines for behavior in the woods.
The Supreme Court of Cassation has established that the administrative judiciary has the duty to control the logical coherence and scientific correctness of public ordinances, preventing the structural unavailability of containment centers in the area from becoming an automatic excuse for killing specimens of wildlife.
The Habitat Directive against the emotionality of the square
The ruling takes on an international significance by recalling the duties established by the European Union. On the basis of article 16 of the Habitats Directive, the killing of a strictly protected animal must be considered exclusively as a last resort, applicable only when any other preventive measure has proven to be completely impracticable.
The Supreme Court harshly censured the actions of the Province, establishing that the climate of social alarm and strong media pressure cannot constitute a legal basis for eliminating fauna. The management of coexistence cannot bend to the political emotions of the moment, but must respect the principles of impartiality and legality imposed by Article 97 of the Italian Constitution.
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