1) In
1990 few Italian women magistrates constituted
A.D.M.I. - Associazione Donne
Magistrato Italiane , with the following objectives in mind:
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to study judicial, ethical and social problems relating to the position
of women in society.
-
to promote the role of women magistrates with a view to guaranteeing
the rights of citizens and the better functioning of justice.
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to create firm links between women magistrates so as to make better use
of their respective professional experience, and to enable a proper evaluation
of the contribution made by women magistrates to the interpretation and
application of the law.
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to propose legislative amendments aimed at the full implementation of
sexual equality.
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to promote meetings between women magistrates, including those from
abroad.
The
creation of an association twenty five
years after the entry of women into the Italian magistracy was significant
because it indicated a moment of strength rather than of weakness.
Our purpose is to initiate a cultural debate
on the role of women magistrates in an apparently neutral world, but which in
substance is rigidly male; that means to influence the status quo and mindset
which has never previously been put in discussion.
The
word “equality” means the overcoming of the laws governing female working
conditions - typical of Italian legislation until the seventies - that was directed at eliminating
discrimination prejudicing female work, but not at eliminating that prejudiced
behaviour which constituted a presumption of female inferiority in the
workplace.
And
this without giving up the protection of the law, because equality still needs
a measure of legal protection for women at work.
In
fact the application of the protection legislation showed that, it in itself,
it was not enough and that it was necessary to go beyond the formal equality
between male a female.
In
this it is right to provide “positive action”, that is action directed at
eliminating de facto discrimination.
To
facilitate the application of the law on equal opportunities n. 125 del 1991
, ADMI has presented to the Consiglio
Superiore della Magistratura (C.S.M.) some proposals for the reform of
employment conditions applying to women magistrates.
The
objective of these proposals is to guarantee that those who choose maternity
and the responsibility of having a family are not disadvantaged in terms of
their professional development, career advancement or personal growth.
Under
the programme for positive action foreseen by the C.E.E., A.D.M.I.’s proposal
will develop in different stages:
-
firstly a planning phase, secondly an analytical stage to help clarify
the conditions applying to women within the magistracy, then finally an
application phase to be followed up by an evaluation of the effectiveness of
the programme;
-
in respect of the first phase, a committee, composed of both men and
women, has been set up to operate as a reference point, on positive action, for
all magistrates and also as an immediate link with the C.S.M .
As
regards the second stage and its application, A.D.M.I. has identified some
sectors in which immediate action is needed.
A.D.M.I.
believes that when young magistrates are given their first appointment, women
magistrates with children should be allowed to choose their place of work
within their judicial district, or otherwise, be allocated priority points
according to the different ages of their children.
These
same rules should be applied when they seek further transfers.
Periodic
professional refresher courses have been proposed for all magistrates.
The proposal aims at maintaining the professional level of the magistrates and
even thought it is aimed at magistrates of both sexes, in fact it assumes a
specific value in favour of women who are constrained to absent themselves from
work for reasons of maternity during the formative years of their professional
career.
2)
The first proposal was accepted
by the C.S.M., who at its meeting of 22nd October 1992 set up a
Committee to study equal opportunities presided of by the Vice - President and
composed of three members of the C.S.M. itself, three women magistrates from
A.D.M.I., an expert nominated by the National Committee of the Employment
Ministry and three women magistrates from the National Association of
Magistrates ( men and women judges association ).
Of the many issues dealt with by the Committee, it’s
important to mention here those concerning the maternity leave of women working
in the judiciary - which is alleged to be the main reason for the
malfunctioning and tardiness of justice.
The data collected in this regard showed that to put the blame on women
was totally groundless; nevertheless it was deemed necessary to draft an
amendment to the currently in force, by envisaging an additional list of
substitute judges/prosecutors who shall replace their colleagues who are on
maternity leave. This remedy should
allow the judicial system to operate better in the interests not only of women,
but of citizens as a whole.
Other initiatives taken by the Committee, whose scope of activity includes all
aspects relating to the work of judges/prosecutors, concerned the request of
A.D.M.I. for additional points to be granted (as it did happen) to women having
0 - 3 year old children when their secondment
to the initial place of work and the subsequent transfers preferential,
treatment to women applying for the vocational training courses which are
organised on a regular basis by the Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura; the
appointment of a greater number of women to hold lectures in such courses and
sit as members in the commissions which are in charge of the public competition
to join the Judiciary.
The Committee also carried out a wide-range survey on labour conditions of
women working in the judiciary, by means of a questionnaire which was
administered to all judges/prosecutors in Italy. The answers to this questionnaire further confirm that women are
represented in a fully balanced way whenever such representation is based on
objective criteria (as is the case with a public competition), whereas this
does not apply if subjective factors are brought into play (as in appointments,
elections) or when a woman is called upon to make a choice which entails
sacrificing her family.
3) Recently has been approved a new law
creating a pool of magistrates, attached to the Court of Appeal, which can
provide substitutes for those male and female magistrates who become absent for
reasons of maternity, illness or other related reasons. In this way, we women
magistrates have taken on the role of watchdog in respect of those difficulties
encountered by citizens in the functioning of the justice system. At the same
time, we have ensured that maternity does not become a negative factor in the
career of women magistrates.
4) In 1994 we organised an international
convention with I.A.W.J. in Rome, during the course of which the American
delegates told us about the use of protection orders in cases of family violence.
Shortly
afterwards we made legislative proposals providing for similar measures in
cases involving violence between family members. Recently the Italian
Parliament approved a new law developing on our original proposals.
5) Further,
mention must be made of the fact that few women are members of the Consiglio
Superiore della Magistratura. Council
of the Judiciary. The Consiglio Superiore
is the body which, under the Italian Constitution, is entrusted with the
task of governing the judiciary. It is
competent to rule on employment, appointment, transfers, advancements and
disciplinary matters; one-third of its members are elected by the Parliament
out of university professors in law and lawyers, whereas the remaining
two-thirds are elected by all the members of the judiciary. It also includes the President of the
Italian Republic, who acts as its chairman, and the Senior President and the
Principal State Counsel attached to the Court of Cassation.
The fact that women are few represented in this body is to be regarded as
negative: indeed, there can be no doubt as to the negativity for women of
entrusting the government of the judiciary wholly to their male colleagues.
It is definitely negative that such an
important body, expressly provided for in the Italian Constitution, has been
deprived of the contribution which women could have given to its
functioning, especially when
considering the high number of women in the judiciary. Furthermore, one cannot
but mention the fact that women themselves have often refrained from voting
other women who were candidates in the relevant elections.
This brief outline clearly shows that in Italy women
in the judiciary have attained highly important positions and play a leading
role. There are women who are carrying
out complex investigations relating to organized crime, political corruption,
business crime; other women conduct important proceedings in civil matters,
relating to all fields of law, on a level with their male colleagues and with
excellent results. Some of these women
even came to be known abroad on account of their wholehearted commitment and
ability.
Having striven to show that they are as good as (or
even better than) their male colleagues, women have now, after over thirty
years since they first joined the judiciary, developed new, independent capabilities
and know-how: they are finally aware that being a woman is no longer an
obstacle to remove, but rather a specific way of living and thinking. Women are acutely aware of the need to
discover (or re-discover) their identity, by rejecting the long-standing
practice of homologation to the male model, and to give their specific
contribution in order to eliminate any residual male-oriented feature from the
legal system.
The aim would not be that of having two different
professional categories mutually confronting each other, one for each sex, but
rather that of seeking to breathe new life into the sole practicable reference
model for this profession through the fundamental contribution which women can
give.
6) The progressive balancing of the numerical ratio between the two sexes with the passing
of time, that this process did not result in comparable effects as to the
access to leading positions, which are
still largely the province of male colleagues. This can be accounted for on the
same grounds as those underlying the difficulties encountered by women in all
other fields of activity, namely on
account of women being, still largely expected to comply with fixed behavioural
models within family and society. It
can therefore be said that the issue of equal opportunities is still open with
regard to the judiciary, despite the existing formal and factual equality.
7) We
have presented to the Associazione Nazionale Magistrati a proposal to modify
the Association's statute of Association to guarantee a suitable quota of women
candidates for election to the governing body; but this proposal was not
accepted.
8) In the course of the I.A.W.J. Conference 2000 in Buenos Aires the
Italian delegation undertook to organize a meeting of European magistrates before
the Dublin Conference, in order to establish the European position on the
Conference theme. We organized in Turin, November 2001, a meeting with women
magistrates from all European countries and in particular from Eastern Europe
on the European law and jurisprudence’s creativity.
9) We
are now organizing a Conference, to held next June 12, 2003, in Rome,
concerning the reform of the Juvenile Courts that the Parliament is at present
debating.
10)
We are continuing to publish our
magazine ‘Giudicedonna’ which has a distribution of 11,000 copies.