The impact of the Trial Office on the functioning of civil justice

Mario Cannella, Marialuisa Cugno (), Sauro Mocetti, Giuliana Palumbo () and Gianluca Volpe ()
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Marialuisa Cugno: Ministero della Giustizia
Giuliana Palumbo: Ministero della Giustizia
Gianluca Volpe: Ministero della Giustizia

No 876, Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area

Abstract: To improve the functioning of the civil justice system, NRRP funds were used to strengthen the Trial Office (Ufficio per il Processo, UPP), a body created to support the work of judges. Using data from the Ministry of Justice, some of which from administrative sources and some collected through special surveys, this paper examines the effects of this investment on the ability to handle proceedings, reduce the backlog and shorten trial times in first-instance courts. The courts that employed more than the median number of staff in their UPP relative to the number of incoming cases recorded a variation in the number of resolved cases that was about four percentage points higher than the others. The differential effect was greater (around ten percentage points) for proceedings in matters with a longer average duration. The impact was also greater in courts that were previously more efficient. The improved ability to resolve cases, especially the more complex ones, had a positive impact on reducing the backlog and the length of proceedings.

Keywords: civil justice; trial office; backlog; length of proceedings; productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-10
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_876_24

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