University of Minnesota Human Rights Library

source: Italian Ministry of Justice

The Italian judiciary can be broken down into the following areas: ordinary civil and criminal, administrative, accounting, military, and taxation.

Jurisdiction over administrative matters is exercised by “Tribunali Amministrativi Regionali” T.A.R. (Regional Administrative Courts) and by the “Consiglio di Stato” (Council of State).

Jurisdiction over accounting matters is exercised by the “Corte dei Conti” (Court of Accounts) with the General Public Prosecutor's office based at the same court.

Jurisdiction over taxation matters is exercised by the Provincial Taxation Commissions and the District Taxation Commissions. Jurisdiction military affairs is exercised by: Military Courts, Military Appeal Courts, Surveillance Military Courts, Military Prosecutors based at the military courts, and General Military Prosecutors based at the Military Appeal Courts, and the General Military Prosecutor based at the Court of Cassation.

Jurisdiction over ordinary civil and criminal matters is exercised by magistrates belonging to the Judicial Order. The Judicial Order is divided into judges and magistrates of the public prosecutor's office, fulfilling the roles of judges and investigators respectively.

The administration of ordinary civil and criminal justice includes a judicial and an administrative function. The judicial function is exercised by the magistrates while the administrative function is entrusted to the Ministry of Justice.

As far as the Juridical Protection of Human Rights in Italy is concerned, there are two relevant protection mechanisms:

Law no. 89 of 24th March 2001, commonly known as the "Pinto Law" (from the name of the Senator who was its first signatory) introduced the principle under which a private citizen is entitled to "fair reparation" if suffering damage due to the "unreasonable" duration of proceedings affecting him or her, requiring the timely management of the related proceedings.

In this way the importance of the right to a "fair trial" has been formally recognized by Italian law, including with respect to its completion within a reasonable time. This provision mirrors the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as amended by a number of additional protocols and integrated by a further four free-standing protocols].

The same right is also expressly recognized by Article 111 of the Italian Constitution.

The European Court of Human Rights was established as part of the Council of Europe with its offices based in Strasbourg. It has jurisdiction to hear applications alleging breaches of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms committed by states which are State Parties to the Convention.

So far as Italy is concerned the Convention entered into force on 26 October 1955 following ratification effected by means of Law no. 848 of 4 August 1955.

The European Convention requires that all States adhering to it must recognize the a number of fundamental rights within their own legal system.

The European Convention's text has been amended by a number of additional Protocols and integrated by a further four free-standing protocols. Among others, some of the most important rights guaranteed under its provisions are the following:

Under Article 35 of the European Convention, application to the Court of Human Rights is subsidiary in nature. Applications can only be made to the Court when all possible remedies have been pursued within the legal system of the country concerned.

If the Court accepts the application it may require the country complained of to pay “fair compensation” to the applicant.

In particular, Article 6 of the Convention, defining the right to a “fair trial,” states that a trial will be fair if it is completed within a “reasonable time.”

Over the years a large number of applications have been made to the Court of Human Rights against Italy alleging breach of the above mentioned requirement that trials should be completed within a reasonable time.