The competition for 450 ordinary magistrates ends up at the center of controversy: alleged traces circulated before the tests, contested checks, exposed to the Rome Prosecutor’s Office and possible appeals to the TAR. Pensare Diritto also intervenes in the case.
The competition to become an ordinary magistrate represents one of the most delicate moments in the entire Italian judicial system. The selection of who, in the future, will be called to administer justice in the name of the State depends on those tests. For this reason what emerged after the writings carried out in Rome from 24 to 26 June cannot be dismissed lightly.
The alleged irregularities reported by some candidates do not concern marginal aspects. On the contrary, the contours of the story appear well delineated: traces that would have circulated in chats before the criminal law test, sheets with the topics found on the commission desk, checks considered less rigorous than in previous years and even the reporting of papers already completed hidden in the bathrooms.
Now it will be the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office that will clarify the matter, after the transmission of the documents by the examining commission and the complaints presented by some candidates.
The traces circulated before the criminal trial
According to what was reconstructed by several candidates, during the first day of the competition, some sheets containing possible traces of the criminal law test were found on the desk placed in front of the commission, where it was possible to consult codes and a dictionary.
The topics reported were devastation, looting and bankruptcy. The following day, in the criminal law test, the track extracted concerned fraudulent bankruptcy, while one of the tracks not extracted concerned devastation and looting.
Again according to reconstructions, photographs of those sheets began to circulate in WhatsApp chats as early as the evening before the test. An element that represents one of the main aspects at the center of the investigations today.
The candidates’ protest and complaints to the Prosecutor’s Office
Tensions exploded on the last day of the tests, when a group of candidates asked for the alleged anomalies to be recorded.
According to what was reported by those present, the examining commission then forwarded the documents to the Rome Prosecutor’s Office, as expected in the presence of possible irregularities. At the same time, several candidates are reportedly considering appeals to the Lazio Regional Administrative Court to request the annulment of the tests.
“The commission was disappointed”: Monica’s story
A candidate present at the tests who asked to be identified by a pseudonym also described the atmosphere experienced during the competition Monica.
“The commission told us that it was disappointed by the fact that chats were blindly believed instead of directly asking them for explanations,” he says.
A sentence which, according to several candidates, would not however have been enough to dispel the doubts. For many, the point was not the existence of the chats, but the coincidence between the arguments that would have circulated there and those that actually appeared in the criminal law test.
Contested controls and the case of hidden tasks
Added to the controversies over the tracks are those regarding entry controls.
Several candidates argue that the testing would be less rigorous than in past years. Some say backpacks were not inspected and checks were much more superficial compared to previous editions of the competition.
Testimonies have also circulated on the web according to which someone even managed to hide a paper that had already been completed in the bathrooms. This is also one of the aspects that will have to be verified by the investigators.
The anomaly of the commission without a professor of administrative law
There is also another circumstance fueling the controversy.
In fact, no teacher of administrative law would sit on the examining commission, appointed by the CSM, despite one of the three written tests concerning this very subject. The administrative track would then have been developed and examined by a commission made up of ordinary magistrates, teachers of other disciplines and non-administrative lawyers.
An anomaly already highlighted in the days preceding the tests and which now returns to the center of attention.
Thinking Right: «Now it is difficult to talk only about suggestion»
She also spoke publicly about the matter Think Straightwho dedicated a series of posts published on Instagram to the case, reconstructing the anomalies reported by the candidates and commenting on the developments of the story.
“Now it is difficult to speak only of suggestion”, writes the newspaper, noting how the elements that emerged – from the alleged traces circulated in the chats to the complaints sent to the Prosecutor’s Office – make an in-depth investigation necessary.
Naturally, the investigation will establish whether there were responsibilities and whether the alleged irregularities affected the smooth running of the competition. But when it comes to the selection of future magistrates, even mere suspicion risks compromising trust in the institutions.
For this reason, investigations must be rapid, rigorous and transparent. If everything is denied, it will be right to say it clearly. However, if responsibilities emerge, it will be necessary to intervene with the same firmness. Because the credibility of the judiciary also begins with the way in which its future judges are selected.
