A prosecutor's office in great difficulty, with structural deficiencies and serious staffing problems: this is the picture that the vice president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary, Fabio Pinelli, will find today in Nuoro, expected for an institutional visit to the Palace of Justice. His arrival is scheduled for 12:10, where he will be welcomed by the President of the Court, the acting Public Prosecutor and the Attorney General at the Court of Appeal.

The visit is part of the dialogue and discussion activities promoted by the vice-presidency of the CSM and represents an important moment to listen closely to the critical issues that afflict the Nuoro judicial district. After a visit to the offices, the official meeting will be held in the Court of Assizes, in a session reserved for magistrates.

The heads of the judicial offices will speak, followed by a moment of direct confrontation with the magistrates. On the table, in addition to the institutional aspects, will also be addressed the operational emergencies that for years have compromised the efficiency of justice in the territory. With a view to openness between jurisdiction and the legal profession, the President of the Council of the Order of Lawyers of Nuoro will also participate in the meeting.

A dramatic situation

In recent weeks, lawyers from the Nuoro court have called strikes and protests to denounce a situation that has become unsustainable: chronic staff shortages, poor service.

The situation in the Public Prosecutor's Office is particularly dramatic: the administrative director has been missing for over five years, having retired and never been replaced. The position of administrative director is also 100% vacant. The shortage of clerks is also serious: only one in service out of the six expected, with a vacancy rate of 83%.

The situation is not improving for judicial operators: currently, 3 out of 12 are actually in service. The same emergency applies to clerks, where only one is active – who will retire next year – out of four expected. Even among the four drivers of judicial vehicles, only one is in service, also close to retirement.

The only good news is the recent hiring of two judicial assistants, which has helped fill another important gap.

When the prosecutor does everything

In the absence of managerial figures, most of the administrative functions – from personnel management to air conditioning maintenance, to logistics or administrative trivialities – fall directly on the shoulders of the acting Public Prosecutor, who thus finds himself taking time and resources away from actual judicial work.

Even the only clerk in service compared to seven magistrates currently on the staff, cannot fully take care of his role. In fact, the Judicial Police is diverted from investigative tasks to carry out exclusively administrative activities, and in some cases counter activities.

A situation that risks compromising the very functioning of the administration of justice, that for citizens and not for the careers of magistrates.

The mobilization of the unions

To demonstrate the gravity of the situation, on June 17, the unions organized a sit-in in front of the Palace of Justice to forcefully demand the stabilization of precarious workers employed in the Court. A mobilization that saw the participation of various unions and workers in the sector, in support of the need to guarantee continuity and dignity of employment to figures indispensable for the daily functioning of the judicial offices.

Vice President Pinelli's visit therefore comes at a crucial moment: an opportunity to bring to light, even at a national level, the urgency of structural interventions and immediate hiring, to restore full operation to a fundamental garrison of legality for the territory.

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