The Venice Court in northern Italy is expected to receive 22 temporary judges by the end of the year — loaned from other courts — to handle the thousands of cases currently pending. The information was confirmed by Italianismo with three sources with connections to the Venetian court on Thursday afternoon (23).
Four of the 22 names are already in the court system: Maria Rita Guarino, Massimo Marasca, Antonio Albenzio and Emanuele Alcidi.
Massimo Marasca He was serving as a judge in the 18th Civil Section of the Court of Rome. Maria Rita Guarino was a judge at the Court of Santa Maria Capua Vetere, in the province of Caserta.
These judges were appointed on a temporary basis as part of a task force to relieve the burden on the court, which handles the majority of Italian citizenship applications filed nationwide, according to data from the judiciary itself.
The Supreme Court reaffirmed: citizenship is born with the person.
- New legal front opened
- Processes can still be filed.
- Individual assessment before any decision.
The measure is part of an internal reorganization and follows the movement of other Italian courts to speed up the analysis of cases.
Early hearings
In addition to the arrival of new magistrates, The Court of Venice has begun to bring forward hearings in legal proceedings, a practice already adopted in courts such as Brescia, Ancona, Salerno and Naples.
Based on Article 127 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the guideline allows judges to decide cases based solely on the documents presented. When there is no need for new evidence or statements, the hearing is considered complete. The case proceeds directly to sentencing.
The initiative aims to reduce trial times, benefiting thousands of Brazilians of Italian descent who resort to legal action due to long lines at consulates.
Old processes are prioritized
Sources monitoring cases at the Venice Court have noted that some 2023 cases have begun to be processed. It's not yet clear what criteria are being used to select the cases, but there are indications that older cases are being prioritized to clear the backlog.
If confirmed, this change represents a departure from the previous pattern adopted in Venice, where newly appointed judges typically received only new cases. With the arrival of temporary judges, a significant portion of the backlog may finally move forward.
The task force and the new guideline are part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), an Italian government program aimed at modernizing the justice system and reducing bottlenecks in the system.
