Next parliament must make judicial reforms says top judge
Too many trials, too many offences, prisons bursting says report
25 January, 11:31
(ANSA) - Rome, January 25 - The parliament that emerges from
next month's elections must address Italy's judicial emergency,
the head of Italy's highest appeal court said in his annual
report Friday.Cassation Court chief Ernesto Lupo called for "wide-reaching reforms" to speed up the country's snail-paced justice system, cut through the thickets of pending cases and ease prison overcrowding. He listed problems including an average 900 days for a criminal appeal, more than five million pending civil cases and 128,000 cases scrubbed last year because courts couldn't finish them in time. The number of possible crimes in Italy, 35,000, was "too high" and had to be cut, Lupo said. All the main contenders in the February 24-25 elections have pledged judicial reform.
Ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi, who says he is a victim of judicial persecution, has vowed the most far-reaching reforms.
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