Download - Transcrime - Università degli Studi di Trento

10. Italian legislation and judicial competences in the fight against trafficking and smugglinginvestigative techniques, such as under-cover investigation and ‘controlleddeliveries’, but also extension of the waivers already provided for the purpose ofcombating organised crime and drug trafficking: for example, increased powers tointercept communications, the use of agents provocateurs, and extension of therules on confiscation.Moreover, a series of changes have been made to criminal procedure law in order todeal with the typical problems arising in the fight against the phenomena inquestion, such as the poor coordination of investigations and their strict timelimits.10.3.1 The changes to the criminal procedure code: jurisdiction, powers and timelimits for pre-trial investigationsArticle 6 letter a) and b) of the new anti-trafficking law modifies both thecompetences of the judicial bodies and the powers of the investigative agencies inrelation to the criminal offences regarding the trafficking in persons (the newarticles 600, 601, 602 and 416, paragraph 6 of the criminal code).According to the new law, the court of first instance (tribunale) in its collegial form,this being the court competent for crimes punished with imprisonment for morethan ten years (article 33-bis, paragraph 2, criminal procedure code), shall judge insubiecta materia. Pursuant to article 16, paragraph 1, of the new law thecompetence of the court as described above applies to offences committed sincethe entry into force of law 228/2003.However, the most important innovations from the investigative point of viewconcern the powers of prosecutors. During pre-trial investigations and in legalproceedings of first instance, competence is attributed to the prosecutor’s office atthe court located in the district concerned. The prosecutor thus becomes a ‘districtprosecutor’. 140The centralisation of investigations to Anti-Mafia District Divisions (“DirezioniDistrettuali Anti-Mafia”) meets a need for coordination that was repeatedlyemphasised by the prosecutors interviewed for this study. The innovation will alsofacilitate investigative coordination at the international level through action by theNational Anti-Mafia Division (“Direzione Nazionale Anti-mafia”), which, as in casesof drug trafficking and organised crime, will be the agency entrusted with allinformation on the criminal phenomena in question. In this manner, the provisionsof the Convention against Transnational Organised Crime intended to improveinternational police and judicial cooperation will be implemented (article 26-28 ofthe Convention).Article 6, letter c of the new law also modifies the time-limits for pre-trialinvestigations, extending their maximum duration to two years. In this case, too,140 R. Bricchetti, “Così la competenza passa al Tribunale” [Thus Competence is Passed to the Tribunale], inGuida al diritto, no. 35, 2003, p. 51.89