It is a judicial year heavily influenced by the pandemic that of the beginning of 2022 in the capital. The recovery, in fact, is still very much conditioned by Covid-19. An epidemic that has especially increased the commission of some crimes, including those against the public administration. The figure emerges from the report by Giuseppe Meliadò, president of the Rome Court of Appeal, in his speech at the inauguration of the judicial year.
“In the court of Rome we note the exceptional increase in registrations at the magistrate’s office (equal to 77%) – explains Meliadò -, as well as the increase (also due to the extensive presence of personal precautionary measures consequent to the worsening of the sanctioning treatment) of the trials for crimes against the public administration, which reached the hearing in number of 180, and the large numbers of the prevention measures section, which manages 43% of the assets subject to confiscation in Italy and which is affected by the increasingly frequent dispute by the public prosecutor’s office of mafia-type association cases “.
In fact, there are many procedures and inscriptions relating to the darkest moments of the Pandemic: inquiries into masks from China and respirators on everything. A year, the one that has just passed, which the president has defined as “horribilis”.
“This judicial year opens in a moment of transition – says Meliadò -, and therefore with uncertainties, but also with the hopes of moments of transition and transformation, suspended as it is between the annus horribilis of the pandemic, which does not still hints at ending, and a strong institutional response, which sees a clear recovery, in terms of productivity of the judicial activity and the start, at the same time, of a process of reform, induced by the need to support the economy and activities strategies of the countries of the Union, which places justice at the center of the NRP, with a strong financial and organizational investment “. Meliadò also spoke of the judiciary which, after the Palamara gate, must “regain confidence in itself, in its ‘values as always’, proud of the precious contribution it has given to the country in recent years for the protection of democracy and legality , but aware at the same time of the need for a profound self-criticism for the ethical and behavioral lapses that have undermined credibility and that require necessary changes, which, without jeopardizing self-government and ideal pluralism, comfort and support those who have worked and operate, and they are the overwhelming majority of magistrates, with transparency and independence and a spirit of service, to protect rights and promote equality, as required by our Constitution ”. Antonio Mura, attorney general of the capital’s court of appeal also spoke. The “district of the Court of Appeal of Rome will be affected to an accentuated extent by the effects of the PNRR, to the point that it is not risky to predict that success or failure in Rome will affect the national result,” says Mura. The senior magistrate then adds: «Implementation will have to take place at a time that is inherently difficult for reasons beyond the jurisdiction, with the pandemic still underway. All the more reason this legitimizes the use of the term resilience, which is the ability of those who never lose hope and continue to fight against adversity ”. The prosecutor then explains: “On behalf of the prosecuting magistracy of the Rome district, I express my confidence and propose a joint commitment in the implementation of the Justice Recovery Plan, I feel the duty to point out that – at present – it is not completely balanced and such to involve all those whose contribution is indispensable for the objective of recovery in an effective and equal way “.