Investigative and Prosecutorial Discretion in Criminal Matters: The Contribution of the Italian Experience

The analysis of the developments of the Italian legal system, one of the continental European countries with the strongest tradition of mandatory prosecution, reveals a complex framework. This study analyses how, despite the rigid constitutional enshrinement of the principle of legality, procedural legislation has progressively widened the discretionary management of both criminal investigations and prosecutorial decisions. The wide discretion in defining the subject of pre- trial investigations and choosing the charges with which defendants are brought to court (among other discretionary decisions) leads to results that do not differ greatly from those of countries traditionally rooted in the principle of discretionary prosecution