Electricity is not an "indispensable to life" good. This was supported by the Cassation in a sentence in which it condemns a woman from Puglia who is out of work, under eviction and with a pregnant daughter for theft of electricity, who claimed that she had illegally connected to the grid because she did not have the money to pay the bill, thus acting to "state of necessity".
According to the judges of the Supreme Court, however, electricity is not a basic necessity, because it does not endanger existence, but on the contrary, it is an instrument that provides comfort and opportunity.
Based on what we read in the sentence: "The exemption of the state of necessity postulates the current danger of serious harm to the person, which cannot be averted except through the criminally unlawful act, and therefore cannot be applied to crimes allegedly caused by a state of economic need, if it can in any case be remedied through behaviors that are not criminally relevant".
In the specific case: "the lack of electricity did not involve any current danger of serious harm to the person, since it was a non-essential asset for life, in the sense specified above (in fact, the electricity was also used to move the many household appliances in the house ): if anything, suitable for providing comfort and opportunities, which go beyond the concept of irrepressible necessity". For this reason, the woman from Lecce was convicted.
