On 17 October, 2025, Pre-trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a decision on Italy’s non-compliance with a request for cooperation in relation to Italy’s failure to surrender the Libyan general Osama Elmasry Njeem to the Court.

In January 2025, the ICC had issued an arrest warrant for Njeem and requested cooperation from states to apprehend him. Italian authorities arrested Njeem in Turin on 19 January. However, despite multiple inquiries and requests from the ICC to the Italian Ministry of Justice, Italy returned Njeem to Libya on 21 January without surrendering him to the Court. The Italian Ministry later claimed that Njeem's release and return were not within its jurisdiction, citing the Minister of the Interior's authority. The ICC Chamber subsequently invited Italy to explain its failure to surrender Njeem, and the Prosecution requested a finding of non-compliance against Italy under the Rome Statute. 

In its decision, the ICC  found that Italy failed to comply with its obligations under the Rome Statute by not properly executing the request for arrest and surrender of Mr. Njeem while he was on Italian territory. As already highlighted in the Yearbook, Italy did not provide any valid legal reason or reasonable justification for immediately transferring Mr. Njeem back to Libya and the ICC also noted Italy's failure to communicate and cooperate in resolving any problems arising from the Arrest Warrant or national surrender procedures. As a result, as already highlighted, the Chamber concluded that Italy's non-compliance prevented the Court from exercising its functions and powers under the Rome Statute. However, before deciding whether to refer Italy's non-compliance to the Assembly of States Parties or the UN Security Council, the majority of the Pre-trial Chamber I requested Italy to provide information on any relevant domestic proceedings and their potential impact on future cooperation with the Court regarding arrest and surrender requests by October 31, 2025.