NEW YORK — One of the defendants of The Vatican’s Great Financial Trial formally complained to the United Nations that Pope Francis violated his human rights by authorizing extensive surveillance during the investigation.
A lawyer for Raffaele Mincione, a London-based financier, filed a complaint last week with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights under a special procedure that allows individuals or groups to provide the UN with information about alleged rights violations in countries or institutions.
The filing marks the latest and most high-profile complaint about the Vatican trial, highlighting the peculiarity of the Vatican’s criminal justice system and its apparent incompatibility with European and democratic norms. The Vatican is an absolute monarchy where the pope exercises supreme legislative, executive and judicial power.
The trial, which began in 2021 and ended in December, focused on the Holy See’s €350 million loss-making investment in a London property, but also included other tangents. Vatican prosecutors alleged that brokers and Vatican officials stole from the Holy See tens of millions of euros in fees and commissions and then extorted the Holy See for 15 million euros ($16.5 million) to cede control of the property.
The trial ended in December with convictions for nine of the 10 defendants, including Mincione and a once-powerful cardinal, Angelo Becciu. The court’s reasons for the sentence have not yet been published, but both Vatican prosecutors and the nine convicted defendants have announced appeals.
Mincione’s complaint to the UN focused on the pope’s role during the investigation, an area that was flagged as problematic by defense lawyers during the trial and external experts in its aftermath.
The complaint cited four secret executive decrees signed by Francis in 2019 and 2020 that gave Vatican prosecutors broad powers to investigate, including through uncontrolled wiretaps, and to deviate from existing laws. The decrees only came to light shortly before the trial, were never officially published and did not provide any justification or deadline for surveillance or oversight of wiretapping by an independent judge.
The chief prosecutor argued that Francisco’s decrees provided unspecified “guarantees” for suspects, and the judges rejected the defense’s motions at the time, which they argued violated the fundamental right to a fair trial. In a somewhat complicated decision, the judges ruled that no violation of the principle of legality had occurred since Francis drafted the laws.
Mincione’s complaint also alleged that the court is not independent or impartial, a claim the Vatican has previously rejected. Francisco can hire and fire judges and prosecutors, and has recently ruled on things like pay, pensions and term limits.
It is unclear what, if anything, the UN will do about the complaint. The Geneva-based office places special rapporteurs, or experts, to monitor specific areas of human rights, including the judiciary and the independence of judges and lawyers.
Previous complaints to the UN human rights office about the Vatican or the Catholic Church, in the areas of child sexual abuse and LGBTQ+ discrimination, have resulted in letters from the UN special rapporteur to the Vatican ambassador to the UN in Geneva, listing problems and requesting responses and changes.
Mincione also attempted to engage the Council of Europe on the issue, as the Holy See is subject to periodic reviews as part of the COE’s Moneyval process to protect itself against money laundering. In January, a British representative asked whether the COE would review the human rights situation at the Vatican, given the outcome of the trial.
The president of the plenary assembly dodged the question.
In ongoing litigation, Mincione has also sued the Vatican Secretariat of State in a British court for reputational damage he says he suffered as a result of the Vatican trial.
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