Justice

Backlog in civil law decreases, but the problem of the duration of cases remains

The NRP monitoring shows that, for the disposal of the oldest civil liabilities, the intermediate target has been achieved

by Giovanni Negri

10 April 2025

2' min read

Key points

Disposal
The duration.

2' min read

Intermediate target achieved for the disposal of the oldest civil cases, scheduled for the end of 2024. But concern remains on the front of reducing the duration of disputes.

The Disposal

Yesterday, the Ministry of Justice issued a communiqué, but without elaborating on the contents of the report on the monitoring of Pnrr indicators. In the Courts of Appeal, it emphasises, the 2019 backlog is almost eliminated. At the end of 2024, the reduction percentages compared to the 2019 reference values are, against an expected target of -95%, -99.4% pending civil cases with years until 2017 in the Courts of Appeal, - 93.2% pending civil cases with years until 2016 in the Courts.

The reduction trend of civil cases for the ministry is also positive in view of the disposal target to be reached by June 2026. Compared to the values of 2022, against an expected target of -90%, the figure of 2024 shows however significant reduction percentages: -70.5% pending civil cases with annuities between 2018 and 2022 in the Court of Appeal, and -73.3% pending civil cases with annuities between 2017 and 2022 in the Court of First Instance.

Also steadily decreasing is the backlog under the Pinto Law, which, compared to 2019, decreased by 45.5 per cent in the Court of Appeal and 37.9 per cent in the Court of First Instance.

The duration

Much more problematic is the reference to duration where, according to the usual parameter ofdisposition time, the duration indicator that measures the ratio between pending and finalised trials, the 2024 figures indicate a reduction, compared to 2019, of -20.1% in the civil sector, and -28.0% in the criminal sector.

In the criminal sector, the overall change exceeds the target of -25% by June 2026; the decrease in the civil sector is smaller than the target of a 40% reduction by the same deadline.

The report, the communiqué alludes to but does not disclose, notices as a critical factor the increase in enrolments, especially in some subjects, which, together with the substantial stability of definitions, has slowed the downward trend in civil dispositions over the past year.

In 2024, the total number of civil proceedings entered in the register increased by 6.5% compared to the previous year. The increase concerned in particular: the Supreme Court (+8.6%); the Courts (+3.4%); the Justices of the Peace, however, not counted for Pnrr purposes (+13.5%). In terms of subject-matter, very significant increases were recorded in ordinary cognitive judgments in the Courts (+11.1%) and in civil service labour disputes (+35%).