How to Contest a Traffic Fine in Italy: Prefetto or Giudice di Pace (Ricorso Multa)

An Italian traffic fine gives its recipient a real choice, and getting that choice wrong costs more than the fine itself. There are two separate ways to contest a verbale, they run on different clocks, and the law makes them mutually exclusive: choosing one closes the other for that same fine. Doing nothing at all is also a choice, and not a neutral one, because an unopposed fine converts into a debt worth more than what a driver could otherwise have paid.

This page sets out both routes, the misura ridotta payment alternative, and the consequence of letting the deadlines pass, using the exact statutory terms rather than the shorthand that most reporting on this topic uses.

Information verified on 21 July 2026. This page provides general legal information and does not constitute legal advice for an individual situation.

Two routes, and why you can only choose one

Art. 203 C.d.S. lets the person fined bring a ricorso al prefetto (administrative appeal to the prefetto of the place the violation occurred) within 60 days of the contestazione or notificazione. Art. 204-bis C.d.S., read together with art. 7 D.Lgs. 150/2011, instead allows a direct opposizione before the giudice di pace, a judicial route, within 30 days, extended to 60 days if the person opposing resides abroad.

These are alternatives, not a first step and a backup. Art. 7, comma 3 of D.Lgs. 150/2011 says so directly: the judicial ricorso «è altresì inammissibile se è stato previamente presentato ricorso ai sensi dell'articolo 203», meaning it is inadmissible if a ricorso to the prefetto has already been filed for the same violation. Choosing the prefetto first forecloses the direct judicial route for that fine, and the reverse is also true in substance, since filing directly with the giudice di pace is itself the alternative to using art. 203 at all.

The 60-day route: ricorso al prefetto

The ricorso al prefetto is filed with the office or command the enforcing officer belongs to, or sent directly to the prefetto by registered post or certified electronic means, within 60 days. Supporting documents may be attached, and a personal hearing may be requested. The enforcing office then has 60 days to forward the file, together with its own technical submissions, to the prefetto.

This route is free and administrative rather than judicial. It is not, however, necessarily the end of the matter if it fails. If the prefetto rejects the ricorso, the resulting ordinanza-ingiunzione is itself subject to a further, separate opposition before the giudice di pace, under art. 205 C.d.S. and art. 6 D.Lgs. 150/2011, within 30 days of notification of that ordinanza-ingiunzione, or 60 days if the person opposing resides abroad. That second step is a distinct procedure from the direct art. 204-bis opposition to the original verbale: it exists specifically to challenge the prefetto's own decision, not the original fine over again from nothing.

The 30-day route: opposizione before the giudice di pace

Art. 204-bis directs a driver who wants to skip the prefetto entirely to art. 7 of D.Lgs. 150/2011, which regulates the opposition procedurally as a rito del lavoro (labour-process) matter before the giudice di pace of the place the violation occurred. The deadline is 30 days from contestation or notification, extended to 60 days if the person opposing resides abroad, and the opposition is inadmissible if filed after a ricorso under art. 203 has already been submitted for the same fine.

The opposition also extends automatically to any accessory sanctions attached to the violation, such as a licence suspension. In first-instance proceedings, a party may appear personally, without a lawyer, under art. 7, comma 8; the administration may likewise be represented by an authorised official rather than by counsel. If the giudice di pace rejects the opposition, the court itself sets the sanction within the statutory minimum and maximum, and payment is due within 30 days of the judgment's notification. A judgment rejecting the opposition cannot exclude any accessory sanction or points decurtation that applies, under art. 7, comma 12.

Paying instead: misura ridotta and the exceptions that block it

Art. 202 C.d.S. lets a driver simply pay the minimo of the fine, within 60 days of contestation or notification, instead of contesting it at all. A further 30 percent discount applies if that payment is made within 5 days.

Both figures come with real exceptions that change the calculation. The 30 percent discount does not apply to a violation that carries confisca of the vehicle under art. 210, comma 3, or a licence suspension as an accessory sanction; for those violations, the minimo is due regardless of how quickly the driver pays. Misura ridotta itself is unavailable at all, for any amount, if the driver failed to stop when signalled to do so, or refused to produce the vehicle's circulation document, driving licence, or any other document the law requires be carried; in that case the verbale must instead be forwarded to the prefetto within 10 days.

What happens if you do nothing at all

If the 60-day deadline for a ricorso al prefetto passes with no ricorso filed and no misura ridotta payment made, art. 203, comma 3 converts the verbale directly into a titolo esecutivo, an enforceable debt title, for a sum equal to half the statutory maximum of the applicable fine, plus procedure costs, without the driver needing any further notice or judicial step.

That figure is frequently higher than what the driver would otherwise have owed. For a violation whose statutory range runs from €173 to €694, for example, half of the maximum is €347, more than the €173 minimo, and well above the discounted €121 or so that a 30 percent early payment within 5 days would have produced for a violation that carried no suspension. Doing nothing is not a way of avoiding the fine; it is the single most expensive way of resolving it.

Which route actually fits your situation

A driver who wants to dispute the facts themselves, such as whether a device correctly identified their vehicle or whether a sign was actually in place, and who is comfortable with an administrative process, may find the free ricorso al prefetto sufficient, particularly given that a further judicial opposition against an adverse prefetto decision is still available afterward. A driver who wants a judicial forum from the outset, or who wants to avoid the two-stage process entirely, may prefer the direct art. 204-bis opposition, accepting the shorter ordinary 30-day deadline in exchange for going straight to the giudice di pace. A driver who does not dispute the violation at all, and simply wants to close the matter at the lowest possible cost, should check whether their specific violation carries a suspension before assuming the 5-day, 30 percent discount is available.

For the fine bands and points that attach to a speeding violation specifically, see speed camera fines in Italy. For what happens to a licence during a suspension, see licence suspension in Italy. For the points system generally, see Italy's driving licence points system. For the full index of Italy driving coverage, see the driving laws section or the Italy hub.