Staff shortage and strike: Nuoro justice in red code
The situation has worsened, some offices of the Court are understaffed. A fundamental right is in serious danger: the reasonable duration of the trial(photo Ledda)
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Not only healthcare, with its alarming shortage of doctors, education with the cut in autonomy or the drought with empty basins. Even justice in Nuoro is in red code. The situation has worsened to the point that some offices of the Court of Nuoro are reduced to a presence of 64% understaffed, seriously endangering another fundamental right: the reasonable duration of the trial . The lack of personnel has also become an emergency for the administration of justice, with repercussions that are felt throughout the judicial system. Since January 13, the courtrooms have remained empty.
Witnesses have been sent home and sentences have been postponed, all because of the strike by lawyers from the Nuoro Bar Association who have also received solidarity from their colleagues in Palermo. For a week, lawyers have been on strike in protest against the serious staff shortage in judicial offices, particularly in the Office for Notifications and Criminal Enforcement (UNEP). The protest has raised awareness of an issue that has long been threatening the functioning of the judicial system in the province. The staff shortage and the consequences for justice in Nuoro, criminal, civil and tax justice seem to be able to wait.
More than 60% of the staff is uncovered in the Unep office, and the situation is even more serious in the Prosecutor's Office, where the staff shortage is close to 64% . Furthermore, the current year will see a further worsening of the situation with new retirements expected. The lack of administrative staff has already led to delays in notifications, a problem that was the focus of summer meetings at the Prefecture, with the Sardinia Region, the Court, and also the Post Office involved, to try to find a solution. Today, a meeting convened by the president of the lawyers of the Nuoro Bar, Lorenzo Soro, saw the participation of numerous institutional actors, including the president of the Court Mauro Pusceddu, the Attorney General Luigi Patronaggio (via video link), the prefect Alessandra Nigro and the regional councilor Maria Elena Motzo.
During the meeting, the reason for the protest was explained and new details emerged about the current administrative impasse. In December, the Sardinia Region signed an agreement with the Ministry of Justice that was supposed to proceed with the hiring of 21 administrative staff, using the rankings from the regional agency Laore. However, the hiring process was slowed down by a bureaucratic back-and-forth between the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Civil Service, with the former asking for an opinion and the latter examining the proposal without providing answers. This administrative hitch has paralyzed the process, leaving the judicial system in a stalemate.
During the meeting, the director of the Unep office, Roberta Moro, brought to light another critical aspect of the situation: the lack of a competition for hiring staff for over 20 years. The last one in 2002. According to Moro, there is a clear desire not to proceed with new hiring, despite the dramatic staff shortage. This attitude, in her opinion, is preventing the resolution of the problem and contributing to the blocking of judicial activities. Moro announced that, if the situation does not change, she is ready to report to the Court of Auditors to request a management control on the work of the competent offices. The director stressed that this staff shortage is not only a problem for justice in Nuoro, but a real administrative dysfunction that risks compromising the right of citizens to have quick and fair trials.
During the meeting, the prosecutor Patrizia Castaldini underlined the seriousness of the situation, with a 64% staff shortage in her offices that seriously undermines the efficiency of justice in Nuoro. Castaldini proposed creating a delegation that can directly interact with Rome to try to resolve the problem as soon as possible.
The proposal was accepted by the president of the lawyers, Lorenzo Soro, who announced a new meeting with all the lawyers of the forum for next Tuesday. "If no concrete answers are received from the Ministry of Public Function, or if these are "equivocal" or "disappointing", - Soro reiterated - the intention to launch further protest initiatives, including more incisive forms of strike, is not excluded". Justice in Nuoro, therefore, is at a crossroads: on the one hand, the hope that the administrative solutions will finally be implemented, on the other, the risk that the blockade will continue to compromise the citizens' right to a fair and timely trial. The situation remains critical and, while the parties involved continue to push for a resolution, justice in the province of Nuoro continues to operate in fits and starts. With the hope that the bureaucratic process will be unblocked as soon as possible, concern remains high for the future of pending trials, which risk being excessively lengthened due to the evident organizational difficulties. The lawyers' protest is a cry of alarm that calls for attention and concrete actions to guarantee the right to justice for all.