Civil justice is regaining ground, while first-instance criminal proceedings are slowing down. San Marino’s 2025 justice report combines a sharp cut in outstanding civil cases with longer timeframes for concluding criminal trials. Meanwhile, new investigations are on the rise, and calls continue for strengthening the judicial police, who are increasingly tasked with handling complex cases.
These are among the issues set to come before the Grand and General Council (Consiglio Grande e Generale) when its session resumes on Monday, 26 October. On the agenda is a report on the state of the justice system, presented by Court Director Giovanni Canzio, followed by a debate.
The most striking result concerns first-instance civil proceedings. By the end of 2025, the number of cases still awaiting resolution stood at 934, down from 1,309 at the start of the year: 375 fewer cases, a reduction of nearly 29%. During the same period, new filings dropped from 735 to 663, while concluded cases rose from 835 to 1,038.
In practice, more cases are being closed than are coming in, chipping away at the backlog. The average duration of concluded proceedings now stands at 481 days. Work still needs to be sped up, however, in the area of voluntary jurisdiction, which covers various protective and authorisation functions handled by judges.
Pending cases in civil appeals also fell, dropping from 105 to 85. A total of 68 proceedings were concluded against 48 new filings, with the average duration falling from 661 to 598 days.
On the criminal side, however, new filings rose from 1,028 to 1,117. A significant share of the caseload involves offences against property. The most common category is the unlawful use of credit cards or similar documents, with 265 cases, followed by driving under the influence, with 129. Fraud cases numbered 91.
There were also 36 cases involving the illegal production, trafficking and possession of drugs, 33 for embezzlement, 19 for bodily harm and 18 for theft. Fifteen cases concerned mistreatment of family members or cohabitants, and the same number involved money laundering. These figures refer to judicial filings — cases under investigation — not convictions.
The most delicate area remains first-instance criminal trials. Pending cases rose from 300 to 330. Those concluded during the year numbered 133, compared with 213 in 2024, while the average duration increased from 730 to 777 days.
Contributing to the slowdown were several trials requiring numerous hearings and particularly complex reasoning. These included various cases linked to the so-called Banca CIS network, ranging from the Titoli (Securities) trial to the one involving the bank’s former corporate bodies, as well as the Promovacanze case, the Central Bank mobbing case, and the co-assignment proceedings.
The comparison with 2024 is also affected by the fact that, in that year, a backlog of previously accumulated rulings was finally filed.
In addition to ordinary caseloads, judges must also handle reviews of precautionary measures, which require urgent attention and affect the scheduling of other hearings.
Judges have nonetheless been asked to speed up the resolution of pending cases, including through work plans with set deadlines.
The trend for criminal appeals was different: in 2025, 113 proceedings were concluded against 92 new filings. As a result, pending cases dropped from 41 to 20.
The issue of statutes of limitation remains significant. During the investigation phase, 11 cases lapsed, though in five of these the offence had already expired by the time the complaint was filed.
A total of 25 first-instance rulings ended with a finding that the statute of limitations had expired, up from 22 the previous year, along with 10 in appeal.
For the latter, the main cause is attributed to delays in filing the reasoning behind first-instance rulings — an issue that has already drawn disciplinary criticism.
The most demanding investigations have also revealed practical limitations.
More personnel are needed within the judicial police, along with adequate technological tools, particularly when investigations extend beyond the Republic’s borders.
Among the obstacles cited is the lack of specific agreements or protocols with Italy that would allow telephone and environmental wiretaps to be carried out outside San Marino’s territory.
In the administrative sector, meanwhile, pending first-instance cases dropped from 55 to 33, with an average duration of 472 days. In appeals, pending cases fell from 11 to five.
Part of the improved efficiency stems from digitalisation. In 2025, the digitisation of bankruptcy case files was completed, and from January 2026 all related procedures will be handled exclusively through the PGDIT digital platform.
The initiative also covered pending criminal case files and new filings.
The digital publication of rulings allows parties to access them immediately, reducing the time between filing and the availability of judgments.
Alongside these achievements, several issues remain unresolved. Canzio has renewed his call for specific regulations governing the legal status, salaries and pension provisions of magistrates. For administrative offices, meanwhile, the challenge is managing staff turnover due to retirements, without losing expertise or leaving essential court registry roles unfilled.
Finally, there is the issue of security at the courthouse. The Court Director is calling for urgent action on access points and for a more effective, continuous security presence to protect staff, lawyers and citizens. At the time of the review, a project for new entry arrangements was reportedly underway, though the call for a venue fully suited to the Court’s needs remains unanswered.
