Adversary System Experiment in Continental Europe: Several Lessons from the Italian Experience

Abstract

In order to promote efficiency and realize democracy ideal, Italy transplanted adversary system in 1988. Because of rampancy of organized crimes and compulsory prosecution system and material truth ideal, reformer’s effort was nibbled away by constitutional court of Italy. In 1999, the legislature of Italy amended Article 111 in Constitution which formed the constitutional basis of adversary system. Until now the reformers win. The Italian experience tells us: transplant of adversarial system is not only trial structure reform but reform of whole criminal procedure; in the course of internalizing the new system, a difficult repeated testing is the only way.