Prostitution Prostitution laws in San MarinoRepubblica di San Marino
San Marino's Penal Code (Law no. 17 of 25 February 1974) defines prostitution as 'trading one's own body for gain'. Keeping a brothel or letting premises for one, repeatedly exploiting another's prostitution and facilitating it in any way are crimes; inducing prostitution has been an offence against personal liberty (art. 168-bis) since 2008. A contravention in art. 278 punishes public solicitation, ostentatious loitering for clients, causing scandal to neighbours, and offering one's own or another's prostitution, or seeking contact with a sex worker, through the mass media. In a case reported in June 2026, a woman who had been contacted through a dedicated website for a home visit, and her partner, accepted plea bargains under art. 278: a EUR 400 fine for her and a suspended six-month sentence for him. No reform bill was found.
Legal model
Legal, organisation banned. Selling and buying are legal, but brothels, procuring and organising are criminal offences.
The 1974 Penal Code does not punish the private sale or purchase of sex as such, but punishes brothel-keeping, exploitation and 'in any way' facilitating prostitution. It also has unusually broad minor offences: soliciting in public, standing ostentatiously to find clients, causing 'scandal' to neighbours, and offering one's own or another's prostitution through the mass media. Because advertising by the seller is itself an offence, the regime sits close to prohibition for advertised prostitution; it is classed here as abolitionist because private, unadvertised selling is not an offence.[1][2]
At a glance
| Question | Status | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Selling sexual services | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | Selling sex privately is not in itself an offence. It is a criminal contravention (arrest or day-fine) to invite others to sex in a public place, to stand ostentatiously in public to find clients, to cause scandal to co-residents or neighbours by working at home, or to offer one's own prostitution through the mass media.[1][2] |
| Buying sexual services | Restricted Breach: criminal offence | Buying sex from an adult is not an offence as such. Art. 278 no. 2 does, however, make it a contravention to seek to 'enter into relations with a person engaged in prostitution' by means of the mass media.[1] |
| Brothels and managed venues | Illegal Criminal offence | Keeping a brothel ('casa di prostituzione') or letting property to be used as one is punished with imprisonment and disqualification; administering or working in a service role in one is also punished. Hotel, bar, club or venue operators who habitually tolerate prostitution on their premises lose their trading licence.[1] |
| Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping) | Illegal Criminal offence | Repeatedly exploiting another's prostitution (art. 271) and facilitating or favouring prostitution 'in any way' to serve another's lust (art. 272) are crimes. Inducing a person into prostitution is an offence against personal liberty (art. 168-bis, formerly art. 269), aggravated by violence, threats, deceit or a minor victim.[1][2][3] |
| Advertising sexual services | Illegal Criminal offence | Offering one's own or another person's prostitution through the mass media is a criminal contravention under art. 278 no. 2. The 2026 case shows prosecutions where contact was made through a website, so in practice advertised prostitution is exposed to fines.[1][2] |
The law in detail
Selling sexual services
Selling sex privately is not in itself an offence. It is a criminal contravention (arrest or day-fine) to invite others to sex in a public place, to stand ostentatiously in public to find clients, to cause scandal to co-residents or neighbours by working at home, or to offer one's own prostitution through the mass media.[1][2]
Art. 278 ('Atti di lenocinio, prostituzione scandalosa') is punished with second-degree arrest or a third-degree day-fine. In the June 2026 case, the sex worker received a fine of 20 days (EUR 400) under a plea agreement. The original code also contains art. 273, providing for the expulsion of foreign nationals who engage in prostitution in the Republic. Second-degree arrest runs from 15 days to two months and a third-degree day-fine from 20 to 60 days (arts. 83 and 85).
Confidence: medium. The code text checked is the 1974 original as published by the Consiglio Grande e Generale, plus the 2008 amendments. No official consolidated text was found. The 2026 court report confirms that art. 278 is in force under that number and title, but whether art. 273 (expulsion of foreigners) has been amended or repealed was not verified.
Checked 30 October 2026
Buying sexual services
Buying sex from an adult is not an offence as such. Art. 278 no. 2 does, however, make it a contravention to seek to 'enter into relations with a person engaged in prostitution' by means of the mass media.[1]
Like the other cases in art. 278, it is punished with second-degree arrest (15 days to two months) or a third-degree day-fine (20 to 60 days) (arts. 83 and 85).
Confidence: medium. 'Comunicazioni sociali' is defined in art. 149 as communication made for public dissemination (press, recordings, radio, television, cinema 'or other similar means'). Whether a client privately replying to an online ad falls within it has not been tested in any decision found.
Checked 30 October 2026
Brothels and managed venues
Keeping a brothel ('casa di prostituzione') or letting property to be used as one is punished with imprisonment and disqualification; administering or working in a service role in one is also punished. Hotel, bar, club or venue operators who habitually tolerate prostitution on their premises lose their trading licence.[1]
Confidence: medium. Article numbers and wording are from the 1974 original text; the official site offers no consolidated version.
Checked 30 October 2026
Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping)
Repeatedly exploiting another's prostitution (art. 271) and facilitating or favouring prostitution 'in any way' to serve another's lust (art. 272) are crimes. Inducing a person into prostitution is an offence against personal liberty (art. 168-bis, formerly art. 269), aggravated by violence, threats, deceit or a minor victim.[1][2][3]
Law no. 97 of 20 June 2008 repealed the separate offence of trafficking for prostitution (art. 268), folded it into the general trafficking offence (art. 168, aggravated where the purpose is exploitation of prostitution) and moved inducement to art. 168-bis. In the June 2026 case, the partner who waited while the sex worker visited a client was sentenced under art. 278 rather than under the exploitation articles.
Confidence: medium. Based on the 1974 code text and the 2008 amending law; later amendments to arts. 271–272 cannot be ruled out without a consolidated text.
Checked 30 October 2026
Advertising sexual services
Offering one's own or another person's prostitution through the mass media is a criminal contravention under art. 278 no. 2. The 2026 case shows prosecutions where contact was made through a website, so in practice advertised prostitution is exposed to fines.[1][2]
Confidence: medium. The news report says both defendants were charged under art. 278 but does not say which numbered paragraph, so it does not by itself confirm that a website counts as 'comunicazioni sociali'. No decision was found on the liability of foreign ad sites; facilitation 'in any way' (art. 272) could in principle be relevant, but this is untested.
Checked 30 October 2026
Key legislation
| Law | What it does here | In force |
|---|---|---|
| Legge 25 febbraio 1974 n. 17 – Emanazione del nuovo codice penale Law no. 17 of 25 February 1974 – Penal Code of the Republic of San Marino Art. 149 · Arts. 270–273 · Arts. 278–279 | Defines prostitution and contains the offences on brothels, exploitation, facilitation, media advertising, public solicitation and expulsion of foreign sex workers.[1] | |
| Legge 20 giugno 2008 n. 97 – Prevenzione e repressione della violenza contro le donne e di genere Law no. 97 of 20 June 2008 on preventing and combating violence against women and gender-based violence Art. 8 · Art. 9 | Rewrote the slavery and trafficking offences, repealed the separate prostitution-trafficking offence and moved inducement to prostitution to art. 168-bis.[3] |
Timeline
- 25 February 1974New Penal Code adopted, with prostitution offences in the chapter on crimes against public morality.[1]
- 20 June 2008Law no. 97/2008 repeals the separate prostitution-trafficking offence and reclassifies inducement to prostitution as a crime against personal liberty (art. 168-bis).[3]
- 5 June 2026Report of plea bargains under art. 278 for a sex worker contacted through a website and her partner (events of April 2024).[2]
Sources
- Legge 25 febbraio 1974 n. 17 – Emanazione del nuovo codice penale (Law no. 17 of 25 February 1974 – Enactment of the new Penal Code). Consiglio Grande e Generale della Repubblica di San Marino, 25 February 1974. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026
- San Marino – Prostituzione sul Titano, patteggiano una escort e il suo protettore (San Marino – Prostitution on Mount Titano: an escort and her 'protector' accept plea bargains). Libertas, 5 June 2026. news · accessed 30 October 2026
- Legge 20 giugno 2008 n. 97 – Prevenzione e repressione della violenza contro le donne e di genere (Law no. 97 of 20 June 2008 – Prevention and punishment of violence against women and gender-based violence). Consiglio Grande e Generale della Repubblica di San Marino, 20 June 2008. legislation · accessed 30 October 2026