Unauthorised access to a protected computer or telematic system (Legge N. DXXXI, arts. 158 ter-158 quater)
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force since 15 September 2022.
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 6 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not access, or remain connected to, a Vatican City State computer or telematic system that is protected by a security measure, without the right to do so or against the will of the party entitled to exclude you.
- Do not cause the destruction or damage of a system, or of the data, information, or programs it holds, or interrupt its operation, when you access it; the penalty is higher where the system belongs to the Holy See, Vatican City State, or another public authority.
- Do not obtain, reproduce, disseminate, or supply passwords or other means of accessing a protected system, or instructions for doing so, for profit or to cause harm.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionNo
Criminal exposure note
Unauthorised access to a security-protected system (art. 158 ter, first paragraph): up to three years' imprisonment. Aggravated where committed by a public official or person entrusted with a public service abusing their position, with violence to persons or property, or causing destruction, damage, or interruption of the system or its data (art. 158 ter, second paragraph): one to five years, rising to three to eight years where the system belongs to the Holy See, Vatican City State, or another public authority. Trafficking in access credentials for profit or to cause harm (art. 158 quater): up to one year.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Vatican City State's ordinary criminal justice system; the base offence proceeds only on the victim's complaint, the aggravated forms and offences against Holy See, State, or public-authority systems on the State's own initiative.
What it reaches
Obligation class
Access restriction
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Legge N. DXXXI of 6 September 2022 amended Vatican City State's Penal Code, entering into force on 15 September 2022 (art. 31).
New article 158 ter punishes whoever abusively enters a computer or telematic system protected by security measures, or remains in it against the express or implied will of the person entitled to exclude them, with up to three years' imprisonment; the penalty rises to one to five years where a public official or a person entrusted with a public service commits the offence abusing their powers or duties, or with violence to persons or property, or where the offence causes destruction or damage to the system or an interruption of its operation, or destruction or damage to the data, information, or programs it holds; and it rises further, to three to eight years, where the system belongs to the Holy See, Vatican City State, or another public authority.
The base offence is prosecuted only on the victim's complaint; the aggravated forms proceed on the State's own initiative.
New article 158 quater punishes whoever, to gain a profit or cause harm, abusively procures, reproduces, disseminates, communicates, or supplies passwords, access codes, or other means suited to accessing a protected computer or telematic system, or otherwise supplies instructions for that purpose, with up to one year's imprisonment; this offence too is prosecutable only on complaint where the system belongs to a private party.
Neither provision addresses the status of a public, unauthenticated page carrying no security measure, and no reported Vatican City State case construes either article.
When LexLint raises it
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