Giudicare e rispondere. La responsabilità civile per l'esercizio della giurisdizione in Italia, Israele e e Spagna

This research analyses the topic of judicial liability in Italy and in the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It also attempts to understand variation in applications of judicial liability, by assessing the Spanish and Israeli legal system. The investigation aims to outline the current framework of the relevant legislation, by reconstructing the legislative and case-law itinerary leading up to the law n. 18 of 2015, and by outlining the legislation in legal systems which have not been extensively analysed in the literature. The research also highlights some of the more significant aspects of civil liability of judges and prosecutors, to provide the reader with a critical perspective on the subject. The first chapter is an overview of judicial liability and outlines the complexity of the topic, as well as transience of any balance the legislator may temporarily find among the different principles regulating the subject. The analysis focuses on the transition from the Royal Decree 1443/1940 to the Vassalli Law, with particular attention to the case law of the Italian Constitutional Court and Supreme Court. The second chapter focuses on the latest reform of the civil liability of judges and prosecutors (law n. 28 of 2015) and describes some peculiar aspects of the new law, as well as possible doubts over its constitutional legitimacy. The third chapter analyses the Court of Justice’s case law on State liability for damages caused by national judges. In particular, the case law explains the reasons that led the legislator of 2015 to revisit the entire matter of judicial liability. At the same time, it enables the reader to witness the (in)accuracy of the slogans launched right after the entry into force of the new reform, which have had the effect of allocating – at least in the common perception – the responsibility of the entire law n. 18/2015 to the European Union. The final chapter focuses on the Israeli and Spanish legal systems, with the aim of understanding the diversity of mechanisms that various legal systems choose to regulate judicial liability. This text was produced by combining observations and comparison of the existing doctrinal contributions in this matter, with analysis of the law in practice and thoughts inspired by the conference "Protecting citizens and protecting judges and prosecutors", which took place at the University of Trento on the 24th of April 2015. Further insights were obtained from an interview with prof. Pietro Trimarchi on his most recent written paper on judicial liability.