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Working as a judge or being a judge : on the specific features of freedom of expression of the judiciary in Italy

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Federica CASAROSA, Mohor FAJDIGA and Madalina MORARU (eds), Freedom of expression of judges : European and national perspectives, Abingdon ; New York : Routledge, 2025, pp. 142-158
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CASAROSA, Federica, Working as a judge or being a judge : on the specific features of freedom of expression of the judiciary in Italy, in Federica CASAROSA, Mohor FAJDIGA and Madalina MORARU (eds), Freedom of expression of judges : European and national perspectives, Abingdon ; New York : Routledge, 2025, pp. 142-158 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/77852
Abstract
The deep correlation that links together freedom of expression and the standard of independence and impartiality of judges is well known in Italian jurisprudence. Since 1981, the Italian Constitutional Court has affirmed that judges’ freedom of expression should be balanced with the need to ensure that judges are – and appear to the citizens – impartial and independent. This context, however, has been challenged recently by two developments that are the focus of this contribution. First, the increased participation of judges in social media allows them to engage in public debate on trivial and sensitive issues. In this case, the role of the judge as a civil servant impacts not only the manner in which the judges may participate in the debate but also the opportunity to do so. Second, the proposal to create a High Court that could receive appeals against the decisions of the Disciplinary Chamber raises some doubts about the ability of such a body to ensure the independence of judges and safeguard their ability to express themselves freely. Although this is still a proposal, it shows that there can be hidden threats that may reduce the ability of judges to feel protected from the interference of executive power.
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Published online: 18 December 2024
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