Method for determining the presence and operation of a particulate filter of a controlled ignition internal combustion engine, said internal combustion engine producing exhaust gases at a variable flowrate, said exhaust gases being guided through said particulate filter between an upstream zone and a downstream zone of said particulate filter, the method being of the type comprising the following steps: - a) sampling, for a succession of instants, values of the mass flowrate of gas passing through said particulate filter and, at the same time, values of the differential pressure of the gases between said upstream zone and said downstream zone of said particulate filter corresponding to the mass flowrate values; and - b) determining, as a function of said recorded values of gas flowrate and gas differential pressure, whether said particulate filter is present and working; characterized in that, in step b), a value for the integral, with respect to time, of the mass flowrate and a value of a presence criterion corresponding to the sum of the sampled values of differential pressures are calculated, for each sampling instant, from the sampled values of the flowrate and differential pressure of the gases, and when said value of the integral, with respect to time, of the mass flowrate reaches or exceeds an upper threshold value, the value of the presence criterion is compared against a presence threshold value so as to determine (38, 39) the presence and working of the particulate filter. - a) sampling, for a succession of instants, values of the mass flowrate of gas passing through said particulate filter and, at the same time, values of the differential pressure of the gases between said upstream zone and said downstream zone of said particulate filter corresponding to the mass flowrate values; and - b) determining, as a function of said recorded values of gas flowrate and gas differential pressure, whether said particulate filter is present and working; characterized in that, in step b), a value for the integral, with respect to time, of the mass flowrate and a value of a presence criterion corresponding to the sum of the sampled values of differential pressures are calculated, for each sampling instant, from the sampled values of the flowrate and differential pressure of the gases, and when said value of the integral, with respect to time, of the mass flowrate reaches or exceeds an upper threshold value, the value of the presence criterion is compared against a presence threshold value so as to determine (38, 39) the presence and working of the particulate filter. characterized in that, in step b), a value for the integral, with respect to time, of the mass flowrate and a value of a presence criterion corresponding to the sum of the sampled values of differential pressures are calculated, for each sampling instant, from the sampled values of the flowrate and differential pressure of the gases, and when said value of the integral, with respect to time, of the mass flowrate reaches or exceeds an upper threshold value, the value of the presence criterion is compared against a presence threshold value so as to determine (38, 39) the presence and working of the particulate filter.