Ermanno Zancla was born in Palermo on November 19, 1966.
After obtaining a classical education at the “Umberto I” high school in Palermo, he enrolled in the Faculty of Law at the University of Palermo where he graduated in 1990, discussing a tax law thesis supervised by the Professor Attorney Salvatore Sammartino.
In December 1992 he ranked third in the admission exam to the "S. Alfonso de' Liguori School of Specialization in Legal Disciplines" run by Professor Giovanni Fiandaca, attending the two-year period 1992/1994.
Since 1994 he collaborates with the legal journals "Il Foro italiano" and "Quaderni Alfonsiani", for which he has published numerous articles, notes and editorials. In 1998 he collaborated in the publication of the monograph "Bankrupt Offences" signed by Prof. Avv. Pompeo Mangano. He is currently concluding the third chapter of the monograph "Principle of offensiveness and criminal protection anticipation techniques".
In 1998 and 1999 he held two seminars on "The penalty in the Italian and comparative constitutional system" and "The legal status of the foreigner" at the "Scuola di Specializzazione Istituzioni e Tecniche di Tutela dei Diritti Umani" of the University of Palermo .
In June 2000 he was a speaker at the conference "The discipline rewarding collaborators of justice: criminal anticipation techniques and investigative needs" held at the headquarters of the Regional Province of Palermo. In May 2002 he was a speaker at the Conference for the presentation of the law proposal L.A-.V. on art. 727 of the Criminal Code, held at the Refectory Hall of the Chamber of Deputies in Rome.
In March 2006 he was a speaker at the study meeting organized by the Superior Council of Magistracy, Eighth Commission, District Commission for the professional training of the Honorary Magistracy on the theme "Mediation in the criminal trial: an alternative to the punitive response".
In September 2006 he was a speaker at a Conference held in the Auditorium of the Palace of Justice in Palermo on the theme "Compensation for damage from transfusion and administration of infected blood and tainted blood products".
From 2002 to 2006 he was the national coordinator of the lawyers of the Anti-Vivisection League for which he drafted, together with the WWF Vice President Dr. Santoloci, a bill amending art. 727 c.p.
In 2007 he taught criminal law on a post-graduate master's degree in Criminology at the University of Messina.
After an internship at a prestigious criminal law firm in Palermo, he has been a lawyer since 1997.
In 2001 he founded the Zancla Law Firm.
He is the coordinator of the Forensic Union for Human Rights – Sicilian section - and a member of the Lawyers National Coordination for Infected Blood.