La storia dell'amministrazione della giustizia in età liberale (1876-1914)
Author(s)
Melloni, Claudia
Date Issued
March 19, 2010
Type
Doctoral Thesis
Abstract
The political and legislative unification of the Kingdom of Italy also involved the
judiciary. The judiciary that depended on appointments and career from the central
government and specifically by the Minister of Justice, was framed from the start as a
branch of government directly employed by the King. The question of independence
of the judiciary from the executive and that of autonomy, understood as a system of
self-government, were the central themes of parliamentary debate. The judicial system
in 1865, in fact, granted the tenure of judges but not able to seat and lower court
judges only after three years of operation. To limit the power of government was
established by the Minister Villa in 1880, the Advisory Commission on appointments,
promotions and transmutation of judges. It expressed mere advisory opinions which
the Keeper could not even take into account. Only later, in 1907, with Law No 511,
the Minister Orlando instituted the Superior Council of Magistracy, a permanent and
partially elected consultative body which was attributed a range of skills relating to
the appointment and careers of judges. Even the competitive examination, as the only
means for entry into the judiciary, established by Zanardelli in 1890 and revisited and
amended over the years, was seen as a way to subtract the judiciary to government
control by eliminating the political appointment of judges. Zanardelli also tried to
reform with the Law of 30 March 1890, No 6702 the judicial districts by reducing the
number of the Courts to increase, with the economic resources derived, the salaries of
judges considered modest especially in the early years of his career. The Ministers
Ronchetti and Orlando have addressed the issue of the Courts and this problem
always met strong local opposition for reasons of prestige than of justice. The
government has addressed the same resistance also for the establishment of the Court
of Cassation in Rome that ended only in 1923. The two penal sections were
established in Rome in 1875 with the aim of facilitating the work of four other
regional courts in Turin, Milan, Naples and Palermo. The Court of Rome, assumed
the full knowledge of all criminal trials, and reduced regional supreme courts in civil
courts. In the following years the Parliament continued to discuss its uniqueness and
the role that would take: court of third instance court or the guarantor of a uniform
interpretation of the law.
The Ministry of Justice consolidated its structure: there were the Minister, the
secretary, the director and the cabinet. The offices were divided into departments.
There were also the special offices: the legislative office, the Advisory Commission,
and the criminal records bureau where the judges worked as applied to detriment of
staff which was constantly being reduced.
Additional information
Dottorato di ricerca in Storia d'Europa: società, politica e istituzioni (19.-20. secolo)
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