The Italian Criminal Justice System

The Italian Criminal Justice System

Introduction

The criminal justice process aims to ensure people’s rights are protected and defended through legal frameworks. The process involves a series of activities and steps, starting with an investigation and ending with a convict’s release. There are several models that criminal justice specialists apply to achieve a fair and non-biased outcome through a court of law. Countries worldwide use different criminal justice models according to the rules and regulations that exist in their constitutions. Packer (1968) notes that it is not precise to understand the criminal justice model applied in a country unless one closely studies the set of values used in the process and then links it to a particular model. There are six well-known criminal justice approaches: The due process model, crime control, Bureaucratic, Medical, Status passage model, and the power model. This paper aims to identify and compare different criminal justice models applied in the United States and Italy.

Criminal Justice Model in Italy: The Power and Due Process Model

 The Italian government established a criminal justice system where criminal prosecutors are entirely independent of external and constitutional powers. The approach implies that prosecutors have the right to take the time they want before ruling out any case without any pressure. Montana (2014) narrates that criminal prosecutors’ independence is constitutionally protected since they are part of the Judiciary, and the Italian Constitution treats the Judiciary as an independent body separate from any other arm of government. Prosecutors’ external independence not only applies when the prosecutor is making a ruling on a criminal case instead, but the freedom also begins at the investigation stage, where prosecutors can direct the police on carrying out an investigation. The Power model, therefore, fits the description of the values. Exhibited in Italian criminal justice. The power model is whereby the ruling class dominates the criminal justice system, reinforcing its importance among the people under it.

However, there are possibilities of countries implementing two or more models simultaneously in their justice system depending on how they carry out activities according to their rule of law. For instance, in Italy, the Constitution exhibits the principle of legality, which assures that all criminal cases should be decided upon before the court of law and there should be no judicial biases (Montana, 2014). According to the Italian Constitution, the legality principle aims to ensure equality within the disciplinary process. The equality and justice principle demonstrates another model known as the due process model practiced in the Italian criminal justice system. The due process model ensures justice and equality among two individuals or parties presented before the law court.

Differences and Similarities between the Criminal Justice System of the U.S and Italy

There exist various similarities and differences between the Italian and American justice systems. For instance, the Italian justice system integrates two models for use: The Power model and the due process model. The United States applies three models in its criminal justice system: due process, crime control, and medical models. The crime control model outlines that any effective justice system’s primary mandate is to repress illegal activities at all costs. Under the crime control model, failure of the relevant bodies to bring criminal activities under control is viewed as a breakdown of public order, hence negatively affecting human freedom (Packer, 1968). The medical model gets applied when the government decides to rehabilitate offenders. Therefore, both America and Italy apply the Due process model. America integrates the crime control model into its system, while Italy uses the Power model to reinforce law and order.

America significantly embraces the medical model in its structure since one can access rehabilitation centers for treatment all over the country. Therefore, the American system applies three models, while the Italian Constitution integrates two criminal justice system models. The Italian Court allows preliminary hearings in addition to the prosecutor’s document, whereas in the U.S., judges focus solely on the prosecutor’s record to make a ruling. The United States criminal justice system is adversarial, whereas the Italian system is inquisitorial (Montana, 2014). An adversarial system is where two involved parties hire advocates to argue the case on their behalf. In contrast, the Inquisitorial system is a legal system that allows the court to actively participate in finding facts about a particular case. In adversarial, the judge acts as a referee between two parties represented by their lawyers, while in Inquisitorial, the judge has the right to seek proof of evidence.

Evaluation of the Italian Criminal Justice

Italian criminal justice offers several benefits to the people, such as equality and detailed criminal reports through prosecutors’ interventions. However, the prosecutors’ independence leads to the late delivery of justice to the people since they operate at their paces. The Constitution does not allow individuals or human rights groups to pressurize prosecutors to fast-track cases, which acts as a setback to the Italian system. The involvement of prosecutors in the investigation process is quite beneficial to the system since the prosecutor can advise the police to make a strong case. Montana (2014) states that prosecutors collaborate and interact with other officials regularly during investigations, and where there are severe issues of crime, investigators take charge of the investigation process. Sometimes, police may not have the necessary competent skills to investigate a serious crime. Prosecutors, therefore, use their knowledge and skills to help through research and rational conclusions of reports. The involvement of prosecutors in the investigation process ensures that cases are handled professionally and that justice gets served without biases. Due to its technicalities, lawyers used to the Adversarial system may find it hard to comply with the Italian system (Montana, 2014). Through the Inquisitorial approach, the Italian Court treats procedural justice as part of ensuring justice prevails, which implies that a legal decision is made for as much as it comes from the official tasks that offer safety to defendants and a chance to know the truth.

Improving the Italian Criminal Justice System

Italian Constitution has encountered several changes to improve its criminal justice system, but there is still much more to be carried out. Human rights and the public have always pointed out the Italian prosecutors’ delay in delivering justice to crime victims. Reforms to improve the system should first focus on scraping out the prosecutors’ independence, allowing external bodies to push for quick prosecution cases. According to Lanau et al. (2014), enforcement of commercial and civil claims is affected by too many court proceedings delays leading to many pending cases. Italian Court system suffers from a considerable number of pending cases brought about by the independence of prosecution officers who have no time framework for working on issues. The inefficiency and delay in court cases have led to a very challenging business environment, reduced investment, and slow economic growth.

Improvement should also shift from the Inquisitorial system to an Adversarial system where the judge remains neutral, and the parties involved in the case are represented by their lawyers. Montana, (2014) narrates that the Inquisitorial approach applied in the Italian Court system has always raised eyebrows on how they conclude releasing or sentencing a culprit. It is imperative to acknowledge that parties involved in any legal case have the right to access and be represented by their lawyers where necessary. At the same time, the judge should remain neutral.

Lessons from the Italian Criminal Justice System

Many countries worldwide can learn from the Italian Criminal Justice System’s faults to improve their efficiency and faster service delivery systems. Failure by the Italian criminal justice system to strengthen its legal framework has led to its slow economic growth and development. The system has also contributed to a massive backlog of cases where individuals cannot access justice on time. Many pending cases are brought about by a high inflow of petitions, low clearance rates, and extended disposition crime (Lanau et al. (2014). Independence of the criminal prosecutors and the Judiciary from other constitutional powers contributes immensely to the challenges experienced in their Criminal system. The Inquisitorial approach also contributes to inefficiency in court decisions. Other countries can learn from these shortcomings and evade the challenges that Italy is experiencing due to the inefficiency of its Justice system.

Conclusion

Different countries implement different models of criminal justice depending on their values, beliefs, and constitutions. There exist six criminal justice models in countries that integrate two or more into their criminal justice system. Every model exhibits several challenges and advantages. States must implement models that ensure fairness, justice, and equality for the people. For instance, Italy uses the Power and Due process model in its criminal justice system. The United States applies Medical, Crime Control, and Due process models. Several differences exist between the criminal justice of the United States and that of Italy. The Italian system exhibits several weaknesses that require improvement to ensure timely and fair court decisions. The Italian court system should enforce changes to its criminal justice system to provide economic benefits and increase trust in the people’s court system.

Reference

Lanau S, Esposito G, & Pombe S, (2014). Judicial System Reform in Italy – A Key to Growth. Retrieved from https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2014/wp1432.pdf

Montana, R. (2014). Explainer: How does Italian Criminal Justice Work? Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-does-the-italian-criminal-justice-system-work-22678

Packer L. H, (1968). Two Models of the Criminal Process. Retrieved from http://my.ilstu.edu/~mgizzi/packer.pdf

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