NOTES ON THE ONGOING CRISIS OF MANDATORY PROSECUTION IN ITALIAN LAW

This article intends to analyze the Italian situation and the main discussions related to the principle of mandatory prosecution in criminal procedure and to the possibility of regulating criteria of prioritization to relativize that premise. This is a primordial issue considering the widespread overload of criminal justice, especially because of the expressive and long-described phenomenon of the overcriminalization. Thus, the following problem arises: Is sustainable the idea of an absolute mandatory prosecution, which establishes a duty to the public prosecution in all cases of a crime and existence of sufficient evidence to substantiate it? Based on this study, it will be argued that some criteria should be provided for rationalization of this principle, through parliamentary guidelines and integrative activities of the prosecutor's offices, with standards distinct from the exclusive occurrence of a crime and sufficient evidence to prove it, regulated in such a way as to be generalizable and controllable, with objective assumptions, thus respecting the need for equal treatment between citizens.