Efficiency of the judicial system and mediation: the italian experience

Under the invitation of the European Directive 52/2008/EC, the Legislative Decree n. 28 of 4 March 2010 has introduced mediation to the Italian legal system, as an alternative mean of resolving civil and commercial disputes. The purpose of this paper is to reconstruct the motives behind and the path through which mediation has been introduced in Italy as the institute to solve the long-standing problem of the inefficiency of justice. Indeed, in an international comparison, the Italian judicial system ranks in the last positions, and this hampers firms growth, foreign investment, and the development of financial and credit markets. Mediation is seen as as a way to solve this problem and thus foster the economic and social development of Italy. Early results on the application of the new institute seem encouraging , although the spatial distribution of mediation offices could not be able to meet the demand of new procedures coming from different areas of the country.