Professionals

Decree on justice and migration: what changes for notaries, magistrates and lawyers

From forensic examinations to professional liability and office hours. The latest developments for legal practitioners, including postponements

by Camilla Colombo

6 August 2026

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AVVOCATO AVVOCATI PUBBLICO MINISTERO TOGA TOGHE AULA TRIBUNALE LA LEGGE E UGUALE PER TUTTI

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

With 165 votes in favour and 80 against, the Chamber of Deputies, at its sitting on Wednesday 5 August, gave final approval to the bill converting Decree-Law 100/2026 – ‘Urgent measures concerning justice and the implementation of the European Union Pact on Migration and Asylum of 14 May 2024’. The bill, which had already passed the Senate without amendment on 30 July, addresses two distinct areas, as indicated by the title of the legislation: the administration of justice and the transposition of the European Union’s migration and asylum package.

For legal and judicial professionals, the changes are significant and include the new state examination for entry into the legal profession; the professional liability limit for notaries; the postponement of the introduction of the collegial investigating magistrate; the postponements regarding the family court and the new powers of justices of the peace; and the rules governing the tenure of magistrates within the same office.

Lawyers

Article 1 redefines the procedures for conducting the state examination to becoming a lawyer, which consists of a single session held annually and comprising two written papers — the drafting of a legal opinion and a judicial document, both on a subject chosen by the candidate from private law, criminal law or administrative law—and an oral examination. The written examinations are held in person, with the aid of law books annotated with case law. Candidates are prohibited from bringing in texts, notes or electronic devices, on pain of immediate exclusion from the examination.

The oral examination involves solving a practical case , answers to three questions (one on procedural law, one on substantive law and one on a subject chosen from constitutional, commercial, employment, international, European Union or tax law) and a further question on the legal system, professional ethics and the lawyers’ pension scheme. Furthermore, the assessment criteria and the minimum marks required to pass the examinations have been redefined.

Article 1 of Decree-Law 100/2026 also addresses the procedures for marking examination papers and the composition of the examination board and its sub-committees, entrusting the chairmanship to a lawyer appointed by the National Bar Council. Furthermore, a conflict of interest is introduced for certain legal roles, whilst the organisation of examination sessions – including measures to support candidates with learning difficulties – is delegated to a decree issued by the Minister of Justice.

It should also be noted, for all trainee solicitors interested in sit the state examination, that the fees for the examination session are payable by the candidate at a flat rate of 62 euros, to be paid at the time of submitting the application.

Finally, measures concerning the law school: notwithstanding Ministerial Decree 17/2018 and until the National Commission for the database is established, mid-term assessments will not be held and access to the final assessment is permitted to those who have attended at least 80 per cent of the lessons in each semester.

The provisions set out in Article 1 shall apply from the first session following the entry into force of the decree.

Notaries

To safeguard the certainty of legal relationships and the sustainability of the profession, Article 9 revises the rules governing professional liability of notaries by introducing, alongside the ordinary ten-year limitation period running from the date on which the damage became known, a 15-year limit from the date on which the service was performed, beyond which no action may in any event be brought. This provision also applies even if the contract for professional services was entered into before the decree came into force, provided that the service was performed subsequently.

Judges

In Article 4, the Government has amended the rules governing the length of service of magistrates within the same office. On a transitional basis, for magistrates who have already reached or are about to reach the maximum term of office and whose term is due to end before 31 December 2026, the deadline is automatically extended until the end of the year.

Provision has also been made for postponing for up to twelve months assignments to another scheduled post or working group when the number of magistrates to be transferred exceeds one-third of the members of the section or working group. The deadline by which the magistrates concerned must submit a transfer application has been reduced from six to three months, to bring the procedure more into line with the actual deadlines for the publication and filling of vacant posts.

Delays

Finally, within the Justice and Migration Decree-Law, the following are also significant: sections on postponements, such as the entry into force of the collegial investigating magistrate, the start date of which has been pushed back from 25 August 2026 to 28 February 2027. Or, for example, the postponements for the family court and the new powers of justices of the peace: a further year’s grace period for both (17 October 2027 and 31 October 2027).