INTERIM RESOLUTION DH (99) 437
HUMAN RIGHTS
EXCESSIVE LENGTH OF PROCEEDINGS
BEFORE THE CIVIL COURTS IN ITALY:
SUPPLEMENTARY MEASURES OF A GENERAL CHARACTER
(adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 15 July 1999,
at the 677th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)
The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Articles 32 and 54 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (hereinafter referred to as “the Convention”,), and Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention as amended by Protocol No. 11, and in accordance with the Rules which it has adopted for the application of these articles;
Stressing the necessity for all the Contracting States to take rapidly all the measures required in order to comply with their obligation to prevent the repetition of violations of the Convention similar to those established in the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and in the decisions of the Committee of Ministers;
Given the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the decisions of the Committee of Ministers in which, since the end of the 1980s, a very high number of violations of Article 6, paragraph 1, of the Convention have been found that are due to the excessive length of proceedings before the civil courts;
Noting the measures taken by Italy since 1990 as a result of the aforementioned breaches, measures which are summarised in the resolution adopted by the Committee of Ministers at the time of supervising the execution of the Court judgment in the Zanghì case (Resolution DH (95) 82), and the new proposed measures which are summarised in the Resolution on Supplementary Measures of a General Character (Resolution DH (97) 336);
Whereas, in this last-mentioned resolution, the Committee of Ministers found that, notwithstanding the adoption of these measures, the number of violations of Article 6, paragraph 1, had not yet decreased and had therefore decided to resume the examination of the reforms required in order to solve the problem posed by the length of civil proceedings in Italy and, consequently, also decided to maintain the cases relating to this problem on its agenda until the implementation of these reforms;
Having invited the Government of the defendant state to continue informing the Committee of Ministers of the impact of the supplementary measures taken and the state of progress of the other reforms designed to solve this problem, given Italy's obligation to comply with the judgments of the Court and with Committee of Ministers' decisions under Articles 53 and 32, paragraph 4, of the Convention and Article 46, paragraph 1, of the Convention as amended by Protocol No. 11;
Considering that the Government of the respondent State provided the Committee of Ministers, at the time of examining this question, with the information summarised in the appendix to this Resolution;
Welcoming the considerable increase in the efficiency of the courts in terms of cases resolved, but calling attention to the major problems which persist,
Urges the Italian authorities to pursue their efforts;
Declares, after taking note of the information supplied by the Government of Italy, that it has provisionally fulfilled its obligations under Articles 54 and 32 of the Convention, and under Article 46, paragraph 2 of the Convention as amended by Protocol No. 11;
Decides to resume, in one year at the latest, the examination of the question whether the announced measures will effectively prevent new violations of the Convention and, consequently, to limit its examination, in the meantime, to questions relating to the award or payment of just satisfaction together with other individual measures which might prove necessary in specific cases.
Appendix to Resolution DH (99) 437
Information provided by the Government of Italy
during the examination by the Committee of Ministers
of the supplementary measures to be taken in order
to solve the problem of the excessive length of proceedings
before the civil courts in Italy
At the time of adopting Resolution DH (97) 336, the Committee of Ministers was informed by the Italian Government of certain legislative initiatives designed, firstly, to absorb the backlog accumulated by the courts over the years and, secondly, to introduce structural reforms in the legislation and the organisation of the courts. This plan for rationalising the judicial system and reforming civil procedure is currently at an advanced stage of application. In addition, the positive effects resulting from the establishment of justices of the peace since 1995 (see Resolution DH (95) 82) are beginning to make themselves fully felt.
Increased efficiency of the courts - determining role of justices of the peace
An examination of the statistics (from 1995 until the end of the first half of 1998) indicates that the ratio of cases settled, compared to the number of new cases brought, actually evolved from 74% to 103%; the number of cases pending - over 3 million at the end of the first half of 1998 - is therefore currently falling by 3% per year. During the first six months of 1998, the number of cases settled in the civil courts as a whole (including labour cases and appeals) totalled 836 110 compared with an input of 810 415 new cases over the same period.
The creation of justices of the peace played a determining role in this increased efficiency of the civil courts, by coping with a major share of the new cases (24.5% according to the statistics for the first six months of 1998). Taking the full figures for 1998, it may be seen that, out of a total of 1 064 535 cases pending, 759 451 were completed, i.e. 71.3% of the total and 91.5% compared with the number of new cases. The backlog of cases pending for these courts is therefore relatively insignificant. The available data also indicatesthat less than 10% of the cases decided by the justices of the peace give rise to an appeal.
In view of the number of terms of office due to expire, the recruitment of 4 412 justices of the peace is under way (2 986 judges have already been appointed). Moreover, under Act No. 84 of 2 April 1999, these judges will now be able to remain in service until the age of 75 years. Once all the posts for qualified judges have been filled and the full number of justices of the peace have been recruited, the relevant courts will be able to operate in top gear.
Absorbing the backlog of cases
In accordance with Act No. 276 of 22 July 1997, provisional sections (sezioni stralcio), specially responsible for dealing with cases pending before the civil courts on 30 April 1995, became operational in November 1998.
These sections are composed of one career judge and at least two honorary judges. By the end of April 1999, only 444 of the one thousand qualified honorary judges provided for had been appointed (of whom 329 have already taken up their duties). In order to enable these sections to begin operating, 390 career magistrates have been provisionally transferred. Under Act No. 399 of 1998, the conditions for access to the post of honorary judge have been made less restrictive, which should make it possible to fill the posts still vacant without having to call on the services of career judges.
The Italian Government is confident that the five-year period estimated for settling the 640,056 cases assigned to these qualified judges will be sufficient. A preliminary report of the operation of these sezioni stralcio will be drawn up for July 2000.
Current structural reforms
Legislative Decree No. 51 of 19 February 1998 (whereby the government implemented Act No. 254 of 16 July 1997) came into force on 2 June 1999, giving wider powers to the single first instance judge. This measure was designed to concentrate on a single first instance court - normally sitting with a single judge - the powers formally exercised respectively by the ordinary courts and by the preture (magistrate's courts). As a result, 549 legal offices were closed and judicial districts were reorganised. This new concentration of resources should lead to greater efficiency in managing the case-load.
At the same time, Act No. 155, adopted on 5 May 1999 assigned the government the task of adopting measures by December 1999 to relieve the pressure on the five most heavily burdened courts, namely those of Turin, Milan, Rome, Naples and Palermo.
The recruitment of 1 000 new career judges and of additional honorary magistrates will make it possible to improve the service, especially for the courts with the heaviest case-loads. The appointments to these courts will be achieved by means of specific organisational measures backed up by a bonus system.
Lastly, with the steadfast aim of relieving the courts of the surplus work resulting from less important cases, the legislative office of the Ministry of Justice has recently drafted a bill aimed at providing alternative solutions for civil disputes.
In addition, another Bill (No. 3813/S: “Measures for the acceleration of trials and provision for just satisfaction in the event of violation of the “reasonable time” criterion was recently tabled in the Senate. The Bill is intended to provide an effective means of domestic appeal in cases entailing excessive length of proceedings. The domestic body would be authorised to award just satisfaction in cases where the “reasonable” duration of proceedings had not been observed.
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy