The Court of Appeal of the State of Vatican City has ordered the full repetition of the trial against Cardinal Angelo Becciu and other individuals involved in the London building case—the well-known 60 Sloane Avenue—after declaring the entire procedure null due to serious procedural errors.
The decision, previewed by Corriere della Sera, implies the annulment of the convictions handed down in December 2023 and requires restarting the trial from its initial phase, constituting one of the greatest judicial setbacks in the recent history of the Vatican.
Total Nullity of the Process Due to Structural Errors
The court has upheld the appeals from the defenses, which denounced irregularities from the start of the procedure, particularly in the direct summons to trial and in the management of documentation. However, the ruling does not limit itself to pointing out specific defects but invalidates the entire chain of actions, including key resolutions adopted since 2022 and the conviction itself.
Among the most relevant aspects, the court points out deficiencies in full access to the evidence and problems in the formation of the file, which would have compromised the right to defense of the accused.
The decision thus renders ineffective the convictions handed down in the first instance, which affected several of the individuals involved, including Cardinal Becciu, convicted of embezzlement, and others accused of crimes such as fraud, extortion, or money laundering.
A Process Marked by Controversy from the Start
The Becciu case, initiated in 2021, examined the controversial real estate operation in London that caused million-dollar losses to the Vatican Secretariat of State.
The 2023 sentence, presented as historic, convicted a cardinal for the first time through a Vatican criminal court.
However, the process was surrounded by controversies from its early stages. As had already been highlighted in the months prior to the appeal, the defenses denounced the existence of exceptional norms and decisions adopted during the investigation that would have altered the balance of the trial.
Among them, the use of unpublished pontifical decrees—the so-called rescripta—that modified procedural rules in the midst of the case’s development, which, according to the defenses, prevented the accused from fully knowing the conditions under which they were being tried.
Francis’s Judicial Reform at the Center of the Debate
The Becciu process developed within the framework of the judicial reform promoted during the pontificate of Francis, which introduced exceptional mechanisms to address corruption cases within the Curia.
These instruments—including the pontifical rescripta—expanded the powers of the prosecution and modified key aspects of the procedure.
The prosecution defended their validity, emphasizing the full legislative authority of the Pope in the State of Vatican City. However, their concrete application began to complicate the development of the ongoing criminal process and was the subject of constant criticism from the defenses.
Although the Court of Appeal’s decision does not directly assess these instruments, by annulling the trial due to structural defects in its development, it highlights the consequences of the applied model.
A New Scenario Under Leo XIV
The decision comes under the pontificate of Leo XIV, who has not intervened in the process but now faces the consequences of an emblematic case inherited.
The repetition of the trial not only reopens the judicial case but also forces addressing the doubts that have arisen about the functioning of the system and the limits between pontifical authority and procedural guarantees.
A Process That Starts Over
With this resolution, the Becciu case returns to its starting point.
What was supposed to be the exemplary process of Vatican judicial reform is invalidated by its own weaknesses. More than a mere technical setback, the decision reveals a fundamental problem: a procedure conceived as a model that has not withstood the scrutiny of its own guarantees.