Justice

Few honorary magistrates, backlog increases

The increase in competences is not matched by adequate staffing levels. Out of an organic plan of 6000 posts, 1380 are lacking

by Giovanni Negri

20 December 2024

3' min read

Key points

Organizations and delays
From the North to the Islands
Administrative staff

3' min read

While a civil justice system with three circuits of decision-making, depending on the type and value of the dispute, is increasingly taking shape, the honorary judiciary is suffering from a chronic shortage of organic staff, also caused by the Ministry of Justice's delays in specifying the number of staff. In addition to the strengthening, also as a result of the Cartabia reform, of the circuit of alternative dispute solutions, from mediation to assisted negotiation, new competences will be added in the coming months both on the dei judges of the peace as well as the honorary court judges, with reference to specific subjects, such as domain, or by value (lawsuits on movable property, such as money or damages).

Organizations and delays

As for the ministry's staffing levels and delays, the latest reference is a very recent resolution of the Csm dated 4 December, which recalls that it is up to Via Arenula to determine the staffing of honorary justices of the peace and honorary deputy prosecutors, called upon to support the public prosecution in certain criminal proceedings. By a decree of 2018, the organic endowment had been determined at 8,000 units (6,000 honorary justices of the peace and 2,000 honorary deputy prosecutors); subsequently, Law No 234/21 increased the endowment to a total of 6,000 units, without distinguishing between that of honorary justices of the peace and that of honorary deputy prosecutors.

The Csm with resolutions of 2022, pending the redetermination of the ministry, which has not yet taken place, has provided, remaining within the limits of the 6,000-unit allocation, to publish the filling of 1,042 vacant posts, of which 657 are reserved for honorary judges and 385 for vpo. Procedures in progress. The posts are to be filled from a ranking list valid for two years.

In reality, the numbers of actual honorary magistrates in service are lower, even quite significantly. Compared to the 6,000 honorary magistrates currently provided for, but not allocated between offices and functions, in service, according to the SCM's monitoring, there are 1,226 justices of the peace, 1,807 Got and 1,587 vpo, with 1,380 vacancies.

From the North to the Islands

Exemplary in this sense is a recent monitoring by the Bar Association, where an Ocf survey of last summer (191 out of 390 Justice of the Peace offices), with reference to the old organic plan, indicates that in Northern Italy 690 judges are planned, but only 252 are currently in service. In the Centre, out of 357 planned judges, only 122 are in service. In the South, there are 166 active judges out of a planned 406, and in the Islands, 128 judges are in service compared to the necessary 317. Overall, only 37% of the scheduled judges are in service.

A shortcoming that reverberates in a number of ways, for example in the delays in the filing of judgments and the increase in the stock of backlog to be dealt with, data released a few hours ago by the ministry indicate that at nine months of 2024 there are more than 900,000 cases pending before justices of the peace, in stark contrast to the decline over the past several years.

Administrative staff

With regard to the administrative staff, in the North in the monitored courts 611 are planned, but 418 are in service. In the Centre, 220 are working out of a planned 294. In the South, 329 units are working out of a planned 378, while in the Islands 220 people are on duty compared to the 283 needed. Here, too, with a 25% shortage of staff, the difficulties are accentuated by the increase in competences since last March as a result of the Cartabia reform and are likely to multiply from autumn 2025 with the entry into force of the new competences, a rule that was dated 2017 and then gradually postponed.