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The judiciary of Italy is composed of courts and public prosecutor offices responsible for the administration of justice in the Italian Republic. These offices are occupied by judges and prosecutors respectively, who are known as magistrates. Magistrates belong to the magistracy, that is to say a branch of the State that may only be accessed by Italian citizens who hold an Italian Juris Doctor and successfully partake in one of the relevant competitive public examinations organised by the Ministry of justice.
The magistracy is the repository of the judicial power, one of the three independent powers of the State, characterised by an absence of internal hierarchy. Such independence warrants the Italian judiciary against the executive branch, in so far as the latter cannot interfere with the appointment, career advancement and the prerogatives of magistrates.[1] Judicial offices may be held by magistrates until the mandatory retirement age is met.
The Italian judiciary embeds three independent judicial circuits. The ordinary judicial circuit handles civil and criminal matters. In this circuit, inferior courts have original and general jurisdiction over civil and criminal disputes, while appellate courts review cases on appeal from these lower courts, focusing primarily on the application of legal principles. The Corte suprema di cassazione sits as supreme court in this judicial circuit.
The specialised judicial circuit comprises courts with jurisdiction over administrative, tax and audit matters. The Consiglio di Stato and the Corte dei conti are the supreme courts for administrative and audit matters respectively. The Corte suprema di cassazione has final appellate jurisdiction on tax matters.
The military judicial circuit possesses, during any time of peace, jurisdiction limited to crimes perpetrates by members of the Armed Forces.
- ^ "Autonomia ed indipendenza della magistratura" (PDF) (in Italian). Retrieved 24 March 2022.