Italy
Prosecution in Italy
The Pubblico Ministero — a magistrate within the independent judiciary, not the executive — with a constitutional duty to prosecute every offence.
Facts on this page were checked against their sources on .
Prosecution in Italy is conducted by the Public Prosecutor (Pubblico Ministero), whose offices are attached to the tribunals, the courts of appeal and the Court of Cassation. Crucially, prosecutors are magistrates: they and the judges are both magistrati, and the Constitution "enshrines the principles of the independence and autonomy of the public prosecution service". Article 107 guarantees the prosecutor the protections that attach to the organisation of the judiciary.
The same idea, explained generally
- What does a prosecutor do?
A prosecutor decides whether a criminal case should be brought, on what charges, and presents it in court. This guide explains the tests applied, the duties owed, and how the role differs between systems.
- Why do justice systems need oversight?
Justice institutions hold coercive powers, often operate out of public view, and make decisions that are hard to reverse. This guide explains the oversight mechanisms built to detect and correct errors, and their limits.
Sources
Sources
Types of legal professions — Italy (European e-Justice Portal)
European Commission (European e-Justice Portal) · International organisation · link verified 2026-07-26
The European Commission's e-Justice portal page on Italy's legal professions, read directly and re-confirmed. Supports that Italian magistrates (magistrati) include both adjudicating judges (giudici) and prosecutors (pubblici ministeri); that "the Constitution … enshrines the principles of the independence and autonomy of the public prosecution service"; and the mandatory-prosecution rule of Art. 112. Establishes that the prosecution sits within the independent judiciary, not the executive.
Constitution of the Italian Republic (1948) — official English translation
Corte costituzionale (Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic) · Legislation · 1948 · link verified 2026-07-26
The Constitutional Court's own official English translation (October 2023 edition), fetched as a PDF and text-extracted (confirmed by the research and verification passes; the Senate's English PDF was bot-walled, so this Court edition was substituted). Supports Art. 101 (justice administered in the name of the people; the judiciary subject only to the law), Art. 104 (the judiciary an independent branch; the High Council of the Judiciary/CSM), Art. 107 (the public prosecutor's guarantees), Art. 109 ("judicial authorities may directly avail themselves of the judicial police"), Art. 112 ("the public prosecutor shall have the obligation to initiate criminal proceedings" — mandatory prosecution), Art. 103 (the Council of State and administrative justice), Art. 116 (the five special-autonomy regions, with additional devolution over "justice" limited to the organizational requirements of the Justice of the Peace), Art. 117(2) — subparagraphs (l) "jurisdiction and procedural law; civil and criminal law; administrative justice", (h) "public order and security, save for local administrative police", (d) defence — establishing that all four justice functions are EXCLUSIVE State competence, and Arts. 134–135 (the Constitutional Court).