Judicial Independence in Italy

Abstract

The most accurate way to assess the actual status of external and internal judicial independence of the Italian judiciary is to analyze the governance of the judiciary from recruitment to retirement and the extent to which external authorities, and in particular the Minister of Justice, may influence decisions in that area. In Italy there are several types of courts which employ career judges: the administrative courts, the court of accounts, the Constitutional Court and the so-called ordinary courts. The present study deals only with the governance of career judges of ordinary courts, i.e. courts the judicial competence of which encompasses all criminal cases and the great majority of civil cases.