A web platform to report "dysfunctions or critical issues, but also positive and virtuous aspects" of magistrates and administrative staff of the Judicial Offices of Milan. The Milanese Bar Association has activated it, the first in Italy. In their intentions , the tool will improve the functioning of Justice and guarantee the full exercise of the right of defense of citizens. The ANM is also in favor: for Sergio Rossetti of the Central Steering Committee of the magistrates' association "this type of reports are the quintessence in a democratic State, as long as they are not used to discredit the work of individual magistrates or generate forms of abnormal pressure on the orderly conduct of jurisdictional activity".
The procedure, the order explains, complies with the provisions of Law 31 of December 2012, n. 247 (art. 29) and Legislative Decrees n. 25/2006 and n. 160/2006. Rules that give the Bar Associations the task of contributing to the evaluation of the professionalism of magistrates. An activity therefore already mandatory by law, the Milanese Bar Association recalls, also in the wake of the Cartabia reform that allows lawyers elected to the Judicial Councils to vote on the professionalism of magistrates based on the content of reports of specific facts, positive or negative. The extra step is the activation of the platform. The functioning of which seems quite simple.
The digital platform, "private and secure", is accessible only to lawyers from the reserved area of the Order's website. Once entered, the system asks lawyers to send reports, detailed and accompanied by documents (such as minutes, provisions, or transcripts). The reports are then received by a Commission for a preliminary evaluation and then an opinion to the Council of the Order, which is responsible for the final decision. Reports considered "founded" can then be sent to the competent authorities, namely the heads of judicial offices, to contribute to the evaluations of professionalism and the resolution of any malfunctions.
However, it is impossible not to think that a similar platform, where "the identity of the whistleblower and the subjects involved remains confidential until the eventual transmission of the report", could sometimes become an instrument of pressure on the magistrates. But the president of the Order, Antonino La Lumia, is clear: "We are proud to have been the first to create a platform that combines transparency, confidentiality and a collaborative spirit". Not only that. The personal data entered on the platform will be processed in compliance with privacy regulations. Therefore, for the Order, the platform makes the function provided for by law "more transparent, accessible, effective".
