ANM warning: risk of paralysis in mafia-related offences and ‘Code Red’ cases under the collegiate investigating magistrate system

‘The decision by the panel of investigating magistrates will cause enormous damage by slowing down the issuance of precautionary measures, which, by their very nature, are urgent. I am thinking in particular of mafia-related offences classified as ‘code red’; otherwise, it will lead to paralysis or a drain on resources from other sectors – not just the criminal justice system, but even civil and labour courts. And all this will, in turn, create inefficiencies.” So said the president of the ANM, Giuseppe Tango, in the Senate Justice Committee regarding the measure on collegiate investigating magistrates, which the government has postponed until next year.

Tango explains that ‘the time taken to issue these precautionary measures – which, by their very nature, are by definition urgent – will also be significantly delayed. In short, small and medium-sized courts risk coming to a standstill, but even in large and medium-large courts the situation is far from reassuring’. According to the president of the ANM, ‘this will, in turn, create the need to draw on the pool of judges assigned to the criminal division – which in some courts numbers barely ten – who, however, will in turn be relieved of their duties’.

The ANM President then highlighted the risks of staff in the trial support office being reassigned to other roles following their permanent appointment: ‘If these staff members are taken away and are no longer supporting the courts, trials will once again take much longer, citizens’ access to justice will be delayed further, and it will be impossible to replicate the figures and statistics of recent years in any way. Furthermore, we reiterate here the need for these staff members to be granted full permanent status, particularly as they will also be assigned to other new offices, such as the Supervisory Court and the Juvenile Court.”