Technologies for the Prosecution Offices in Italy: the Tension between Legacy and Creativity

This volume is a collection of papers and national reports written for the research project 'Information and Communication Technology for the Public Prosecutor's Office', which is being coordinated by IRSIG-CNR, along with other international partners. The project had the financial support of the AGIS Programme of the European Commission, Directorate General Justice and Home Affairs. The papers presented deal in-depth with various issues relating to the use of technologies by the public prosecution service in combating crime in six countries: Denmark, England and Wales, Finland, France, Italy and the Netherlands. The research focuses on information and communication technology (ICT) applications in four areas: 1) use of ICT in case investigations; 2) use of ICT for case management; 3) ICT interoperability between public prosecutor's offices, courts, police and prisons; 4) ICT for sharing prosecutorial information between countries. Since ICT initiatives cannot be developed in a vacuum, each papers also presents some information on the institutional setting and the role of the public prosecution service in each country. The introduction offers a comparative analysis of the case studies. This research project stresses the need to increase efforts and investments in the pursuit of judicial cooperation in the area of criminal law. It contributes to the fostering of mutual knowledge of European judicial systems and the sharing of successful practices and technological solutions. It also highlights, the challenges that still have to be faced if data and information are to be shared transnationally.