Born in 1960, he graduated in Law at Catania University. He is a criminal defense lawyer, partner of the legal firm “Sallicano & Reale” in Siracusa. He has worked as an attorney since 1985, pleading before the Court of Cassation, the Disciplinary Chamber of the Italian High Council of the Judiciary and the European Court of Human Rights, among others.

His involvement in the field of international criminal law started in 1997, when he became a member of the Siracusa Institute Scientific Regional Committee and of the Board of Directors of the Centre for European Criminal Law of Catania. In the following years, he participated in the Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, held at the United Nations Office in New York, in his capacity as Siracusa Institute Representative. In December 1999, he was appointed Councilor for Urban Planning of the City of Siracusa, and held this office until 2008.