The Cartabia reform (“riforma Cartabia”) is the hottest debated topic of the moment in courts and law firms throughout Italy. The new rules cover both the criminal and civil courts and are due to come into effect from 1st March 2023.
Marta Cartabia was the former Minister of Justice in the Mario Draghi government, and was responsible for overseeing the drafting of legal reforms which came into force with the 2022 Legislative Decree (Dgls n. 149 del 10 ottobre 2022).
The two main aims of the reform are to reduce the backlog of cases in the Italian courts, and to reduce the length of time from the start of proceedings and a judgement. The reforms are designed to support the post-pandemic relaunch of Italy alongside other reforms imposed on Italy by the EU as a condition to receive the PNRR economic package.
The reforms include changes to the following fields of law handled by Oliver & Partners:
- Italian citizenship
- Family law – an application for legal separation and divorce can be filed at the same time before the same court
- Minors’ Court
- Guardianship proceedings (giudice tutelare)
- Civil litigation
In a series of articles, to be published throughout 2023, we will provide more detailed information and guidance in relation to the new measures applying to the above types of proceedings.
In a post on this website last year, we looked at measures proposed by the new Minister of Justice, Carlo Norio, appointed by the current Meloni Government, which has also brought forward the starting date of the Cartabia reform. Nordio commented recently that “Our judicial system is so critically afflicted by a series of negativities that it costs us, on average, two points of Gross Domestic Product per year: this government, this ministry, have prioritized those arguments that should not be divided, which concern the efficiency of justice, especially civil justice“.
