The Mitterrand doctrine was based on the supposed superiority of French law and its alleged greater adherence to European standards and principles concerning the protection of human rights, especially with regard to in absentia trials. Italy at the time did not guarantee a second trial after an
in absentia trial, which meant that convicted people extradited to Italy might never be able to defend themselves in person. By comparison, France allowed a second trial through the process of
purgation in the absence. However, in 2001 the
European Court of Human Rights (EHCR) ruled that the French
purgation in the absence process also violated Article 6 of the European Convention (the right to a fair trial), because the person had no lawyer defending them at the first
in absentia trial. In response, in 2004 France amended its procedure for
in absentia trials to allow for defence by a lawyer. The current
in absentia procedure is defined as
par défaut and allows for the defence by a lawyer. In 2002, France extradited Paolo Persichetti, an ex-member of the communist terrorist group
Red Brigades (BR) who was teaching sociology at the university, in breach of the Mitterrand doctrine. However, in 1998,
Bordeaux's
appeal court had judged that
Sergio Tornaghi could not be extradited to Italy on the grounds that Italian procedure would not organise a second trial after the first trial
in absentia. The extraditions in the 2000s decade involved not only members of the Red Brigades but also other leftist activists who had fled to France and were being sought by Italian justice. They included
Antonio Negri, who eventually chose to return to Italy and surrender to Italian authorities. In 2004, French judicial officials authorised the extradition of
Cesare Battisti. In 2005 the
Conseil d'État confirmed the extradition and softening the Mitterrand doctrine. Nonetheless, Battisti had already fled to Mexico and subsequently to Brazil, where he lived as fugitive for the following 14 years. In 2018, when Brazil revoked his protection, he fled again to Bolivia and unsuccessfully sought asylum. He was arrested and extradited to Italy to expiate his sentence of life imprisonment for four murders. In 2005,
Gilles Martinet, an old socialist intellectual and former ambassador to Italy, wrote in the preface to a book that was dedicated to the Battisti case, "Not being able to make a revolution in our country, we continue to dream of it elsewhere. It continues to exist the need to prove ourselves that we are always on the left and that we have not departed from the ideal". In 2021, 10 far-left Italian terrorists in France were arrested, with plans made to extradite them to Italy. The terrorists facing extradition were convicted of acts including murders and kidnappings. French authorities stated that their extradition would fall in line with the Mitterrand doctrine, as it did not necessarily apply to violent criminals. However, France's
Court of Cassation rejected the extradition attempt in 2023, allowing the 10 terrorists to remain within France. As of 2021, Italy continued to seek the extradition of roughly 200 people residing in France. ==Reasons==