Judiciary of Italy

The judiciary of Italy is one of the three branches of the Italian Republic under the constitution of 1948. Composed of a system of courts and public prosecutors' offices, the judiciary of Italy is tasked with the administration of justice. Both bench judges and public prosecutors, collectively called magistrates after the Roman tradition, hold office within this branch. The foundational attributes and roles of the Italian judiciary are delineated primarily by the Constitution of Italy, and are supplemented by statutes of constitutional significance.

In turn, magistrates are gathered in a collective body known as magistracy. Marked by an absence of internal hierarchy, the magistracy is also independent from any other branch of the state. In particular, the constitutional guarantee of independence protects career and honorary magistrates against the executive and legislative branches. In the Italian Republic, the government has no role in appointments or promotions, although the Minister of Justice oversees administrative resources and may request disciplinary proceedings. Career magistrates may serve until the mandatory retirement age of 70.

The Italian judiciary encompasses three independent judicial circuits. The ordinary judicial circuit handles civil and criminal matters. The specialised judicial circuit has exclusive jurisdiction over administrative, tax and audit matters. The military judicial circuit has jurisdiction over offences committed by service members in peacetime, although specific statutes provide broader attributions during wartime. The Constitutional Court of Italy lies outside the judiciary as an independent and separate constitutional institution tasked with reviewing the constitutionality of laws and settling conflicts among the branches of the state.