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53-684: The Antimafia Pool was a group of investigating magistrates at the Prosecuting Office of Palermo , Sicily , who closely worked together sharing information and developing new investigative and prosecutorial strategies against the Sicilian Mafia . An informal pool was created by Judge Rocco Chinnici in the early 1980s following the example of anti-terrorism judges in Northern Italy in the 1970s. Most importantly, they assumed collective responsibility for carrying Mafia prosecutions forward: all

106-540: A juzgado de instrucción is the office of an examining judge. Each investigating judge is responsible for investigating "all kind of criminal cases committed in his district, except those cases that fall under the jurisdiction of the National Court ( Audiencia Nacional ) or where another court has jurisdiction ratione personae ." In addition to investigating crimes of all sorts, "the investigating judges are competent to try petty offense cases." Among

159-494: A criminal prosecution was historically overseen by an examining magistrate, preceding the trial ( plenario ) phase. In the first phase, an examining magistrate interviewed the witnesses, questioned the accused, examined evidence, and created a dossier before making a recommendation to the trial judge as to whether the defendant should be discharged or tried. Formerly, in Chile , Paraguay , Uruguay , and Venezuela , "no distinction

212-455: A multitude of crimes relating to Mafia activities, based primarily on testimonies given as evidence from former Mafia bosses turned informants, known as pentiti , in particular Tommaso Buscetta and Salvatore Contorno . Most were convicted. To the surprise of many, the convictions were upheld in January 1992, after the final stage of appeal. The importance of the trial was that the existence of

265-502: A report on the outcome of the investigation and then refers it to the raadkamer , an arm of the court, to decide whether to dismiss the case, allow it to proceed, or (in certain circumstances) to refer it to another court. The role is unusual, as the onderzoeksrechter simultaneously serve a judge and an officer of the police judiciaire . In the Netherlands, the position of examining magistrate has existed since 1926, and

318-458: A sentence. By the end of the 20th century, most Latin American countries followed Germany in eliminating the examination phase. In 1998, Venezuela enacted a legal reform that ended the secrecy of the sumario phase and bolstered the ability of accused persons to prepare a defense. Beginning in 2002, Chile began to incorporate more adversarial aspects into its inquisitorial system, and this reform

371-459: A single unit for some purposes, because the two form the constitutional successor to the former Kingdom of England. The continuance of Scots law was guaranteed under the 1706 Treaty of Union that led to the Acts of Union 1707 , and as a consequence English law—and after 1801 , Irish law —continued to be separate. Following the two Acts of Union, Parliament can restrict the effect of its laws to part of

424-576: A single unit, except for the land to the north of Hadrian's Wall – though the Roman-occupied area varied in extent, and for a time extended to the Antonine/Severan Wall . At that time, most of the native inhabitants of Roman Britain spoke Brythonic languages , and were all regarded as Britons , divided into numerous tribes. After the conquest, the Romans administered this region as a single unit,

477-732: Is known as an Act of Senedd Cymru . For a company to be incorporated in the United Kingdom, its application for registration with Companies House must state "whether the company's registered office is to be situated in England and Wales (or in Wales), in Scotland or in Northern Ireland", which will determine the law applicable to that business entity. A registered office must be specified as "in Wales" if

530-676: The Government of Wales Act 1998 . Measures and Acts of the Senedd apply in Wales, but not in England. Following the Government of Wales Act, effective since May 2007, the Senedd can legislate on matters devolved to it. Following a referendum on 3 March 2011 , the Senedd gained direct law-making powers, without the need to consult Westminster. This was the first time in almost 500 years that Wales had its own powers to legislate. Each piece of Welsh legislation

583-643: The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda . Poland historically had examining magistrates; Polish examining magistrate Jan Sehn investigated the Nazi atrocities at Auschwitz in preparation for the Auschwitz trials . However, in 1949, the Polish judiciary was restructured along Soviet lines , and the position of investigating magistrate

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636-547: The Netherlands retain the examining judge in some cases; examining judges investigate in 5% of cases in Belgium and 2% of cases in the Netherlands. In Belgium, criminal proceedings are usually initiated by the public prosecutor ( Procureur des Konings or procureur du roi ), who typically decides whether to issue a summons to a suspect ordering him or her to appear in court. However, in "more serious or complicated cases"

689-850: The Norman invasion of Wales in the 11th century, English law came to apply in the parts of Wales conquered by the Normans (the Welsh Marches ). In 1283, the English, led by Edward I , with the biggest army brought together in England since the 11th century, conquered the remainder of Wales , then organised as the Principality of Wales . This was then united with the English crown by the Statute of Rhuddlan of 1284. This aimed to replace Welsh criminal law with English law. Welsh law continued to be used for civil cases until

742-614: The province of Britain . Long after the departure of the Romans, the Britons in what became Wales developed their own system of law , first codified by Hywel Dda (Hywel the Good; reigned 942–950) when he was king of most of present-day Wales (compare King of Wales ); in England Anglo-Saxon law was initially codified by Alfred the Great in his Legal Code , c.  893 . However, after

795-531: The 17th century. The sweeping powers traditionally entrusted to them were so broad that Honoré de Balzac called the investigating judge "the most powerful man in France" in the 19th century. Later, however, the authority of the investigating judges in France was diminished by a series of reforms, initiated in 1985 by French justice minister Robert Badinter . and extending into the 2000s. Today, investigating judges are one of four types of French magistrates,

848-634: The Cosa Nostra was finally judicially confirmed. Examining magistrate Investigating judges in France have an important role in the French judiciary . They are also a feature of the Spanish, Dutch, Belgian and Greek criminal justice systems , although the extent of the examining magistrate's role has generally diminished over time. Since the late 20th and early 21st centuries, several countries, including Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, and Italy, have abolished

901-455: The English. This was reflected on both Henry VIII and Elizabeth I 's coat of arms where the dragon represented Wales and the lion represented England. As soon as the Tudor dynasty ended with the death of Elizabeth I , however, the red dragon of Wales was dropped and replaced with the unicorn of Scotland with the succession of King James I who demoted Wales' status on the coat of arms and on

954-485: The Public Prosecutor ( procureur ) or upon the request of a private citizen. The investigating judge may issue Letters rogatory , order the seizure of necessary evidence, compel witnesses to appear and give evidence, and request expert testimony at an investigative hearing, the judge may have witnesses confront each other or the accused. In Spain, a juez de instrucción is an examining judge, and

1007-568: The Spanish Civil War (despite a 1977 amnesty act ) and human rights abuses committed during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco . Garzón was convicted of illegal wiretapping in 2012 and was suspended from the bench for 11 years. The small European nation of Andorra has investigating magistrates; in 2018, for example, an investigating magistrate in the country issued indictments against 28 people, including former Venezuelan officials, on charges of money laundering . Both Belgium and

1060-496: The accused." This problem also affects common-law jurisdictions. It has been noted that "in the United States, the focus of concern has been the independence of counsel for the defense, while in France, concern focuses on the independence of the examining magistrate." The examination phase has been described as "the most controversial aspect of criminal procedure" in civil-law jurisdictions because of "[t]he secrecy and length of

1113-623: The annexation of Wales to England in the 16th century by the Welsh House of Tudor . The Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 then consolidated the administration of all the Welsh territories and incorporated them fully into the legal system of the Kingdom of England. This was in part to update outdated Welsh laws, but also to control Wales alongside England; through these acts, the Welsh could be seen as equals to

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1166-455: The case." Finally, under "public prosecutor model II" the examining magistrate was absent altogether and the public prosecutor being the "master of preliminary proceedings" responsible for conducting the investigation and examination, making the decision of whether or not to charge, and prosecuting the case. When the Swiss Code of Criminal Procedure came into effect in 2011, Switzerland adopted

1219-511: The company wishes to use a name ending cyfyngedig or cyf , rather than Limited or Ltd. or to avail itself of certain other privileges relating to the official use of the Welsh language. Outside the legal system, the position is mixed. Some organisations combine as "England and Wales", others are separate. The order of precedence in England and Wales is distinct from those of Northern Ireland and Scotland , and from Commonwealth realms . The national parks of England and Wales have

1272-522: The constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 . The substantive law of the jurisdiction is English law . The devolved Senedd (Welsh Parliament; Welsh : Senedd Cymru ) – previously named the National Assembly for Wales – was created in 1999 under the Government of Wales Act 1998 and provides a degree of self-government in Wales. The powers of

1325-488: The examining magistrate is important in civil-law jurisdictions such as France, which have an inquisitorial system . In contrast, common-law jurisdictions such as England and the United States have an adversarial system and lack a comparable official. Frequent close interaction with police and prosecutors "may well condition examining magistrates to favor the long-term interests of regular participants over those of

1378-403: The examining magistrate share responsibility with the public prosecutor. Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, and Italy have all abolished the examining-magistrate system. In France, the investigating judge ( juge d'instruction ) has been a feature of the judicial system since the mid-19th century, and the preliminary investigative procedure has been a part of the judicial system from at least

1431-418: The examining phase (the instruction), and the trial. The investigative phase comes under the direction of the public prosecutor, who also participates actively in the examining phase, which is supervised by the examining judge. The examining phase is primarily written and is not public. The examining judge controls the nature and scope of this phase of the proceeding. The examining judge is expected to investigate

1484-587: The first adaptation of the Flag of Great Britain . Prior to 1746, it was not clear whether a reference to "England" in legislation included Wales, and so in 1746, Parliament passed the Wales and Berwick Act 1746 . This specified that in all prior and future laws, references to "England" would by default include Wales (and Berwick-upon-Tweed ). The Wales and Berwick Act was repealed by the Welsh Language Act 1967 , although

1537-506: The grand jury as it exists in U.S. law is an effective investigative function, it lacks the screening functions that the French system has. Thomas notes that under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, U.S. prosecutors are not obliged to present exculpatory evidence to grand juries, and as a result grand jurors hear only evidence from the prosecution. By contrast, under the French system, the French examining magistrate operates as an investigator, and

1590-619: The group included Paolo Borsellino , Giuseppe Di Lello and Leonardo Guarnotta. The group pooled together several investigations into the Mafia, which resulted in the Maxi Trial against the Mafia, from February 1986 to December 1987. The trial was held in a bunker-courthouse specially constructed for this purpose, inside the walls of the Ucciardone prison in Palermo. A total of 475 mafiosi were indicted for

1643-530: The indicting chamber acts as a screening body expressly responsible for seeking the truth. Use of the examining magistrate has declined in Europe over time. Spain, France, Croatia, the Netherlands, Belgium and Greece are among the countries to retain the practice. But in all of these nations, the examining magistrate's role has been diminished, with a general trend of restricting the examining magistrate's involvement to only "serious crimes or sensitive cases", or having

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1696-479: The investigative functions of the examining magistrate to public prosecutors, who in Italy are also considered judges. The reform transferred the oversight functions of examining magistrates to newly created judges of the preliminary investigation with specified duties, including the issuance of search warrants, the authorization of wiretaps, and the decision on pretrial detention. The replacement of examining magistrates

1749-471: The investigative magistrate. In Greece, the investigative magistrate interviews witnesses, reviews the evidence, and refers cases to the public prosecutor, who makes the ultimate charging decision. Greek investigative magistrates can also issue arrest warrants . Italy abolished the examining magistrate in 1989, as part of a broader overhaul of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure . The reform transferred

1802-467: The latter model nationwide, abolished the position of examining magistrate that had previously existed in some cantons. One prominent Swiss investigative magistrate was Carla Del Ponte , who became prominent for her investigations into Sicilian Mafia crime in Switzerland. Del Ponte was later appointed public prosecutor and then federal attorney general of Switzerland, before becoming chief prosecutor of

1855-569: The legislature were expanded by the Government of Wales Act 2006 , which allows it to pass its own laws , and the Act also formally separated the Welsh Government from the Senedd. There is no equivalent body for England , which is directly governed by the parliament and government of the United Kingdom . During the Roman occupation of Britain , the area of present-day England and Wales was administered as

1908-438: The matter thoroughly and to prepare a complete written record so that by the time the examining stage is complete, all the relevant evidence is in the record. If the examining judge concludes that a crime was committed and that the accused is the perpetrator, the case then goes to trial. If the judge decides that no crime was committed or that the crime was not committed by the accused, the matter does not go to trial. The role of

1961-467: The members of the pool signed prosecutorial orders to avoid exposing any one of them to particular risk, such as the one that had cost Judge Gaetano Costa his life. Costa had signed the indictments of 55 against the Mafia heroin-trafficking network of the Spatola-Inzerillo-Gambino clan, after virtually all of the other prosecutors in his office had declined to do so – a fact that leaked out of

2014-503: The most famous Spanish investigating judges was Baltasar Garzón , a polarizing figure known for investigating high-profile corruption and human rights cases. Garzón was known for invoking the doctrine of universal jurisdiction to issue an international arrest warrant for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet , leading to his apprehension in London in 1998. Garzón also gained attention for overseeing an inquiry into atrocities committed during

2067-471: The office and eventually cost him his life. He was murdered on 6 August 1980, on the orders of Salvatore Inzerillo . In July 1983, magistrate Rocco Chinnici was killed by the Mafia. His place as head of the ‘Office of Instruction’ (Ufficio istruzione), the investigative branch of the Prosecution Office of Palermo, was taken by Antonino Caponnetto , who formalized the pool. Next to Giovanni Falcone ,

2120-516: The others being trial judges ( magistrats de siège ), public prosecutors ( magistrats debout ), and policymaking and administrative magistrates at the Ministry of Justice . Each investigating judge is appointed by the president of France upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Justice and serves renewable three-year terms. An investigating judge initiates an investigation upon an order of

2173-416: The police investigation directly, and the public prosecutor was only a party in the case. Under "examining magistrate model II" the examining magistrate and the public prosecutor jointly directed pre-trial proceedings; "the examining magistrate acted not independently, but was bound by the public prosecutor's instructions." The "public prosecutor model I" followed the multiple-stage French system, in which (1)

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2226-403: The position of examining magistrate outright. In some cases, they have created new positions that take on some of these responsibilities. John Henry Merryman and Rogelio Pérez-Perdomo have described the examining magistrate's role in civil-law systems as follows: The typical criminal proceeding in the civil law world can be thought of as divided into three basic parts: the investigative phase,

2279-460: The powers of the office were strengthened in 1999. Dutch public prosecutors are charged with supervising criminal investigations and ensuring the "legitimacy, fairness and overall integrity" of the investigation and pretrial proceedings. In addition to their investigative role, examining magistrate is also charged with making determinations as to the lawfulness of arrests and as to pretrial detention . The examining magistrate specifically reviews

2332-403: The proceedings, the large powers enjoyed by examining magistrates" and "the possibility for abuse inherent in the power of the individual magistrate to work in secret and to keep people incarcerated for long periods." Some commentators, however, have compared the examining magistrate's role favorably to that of the grand jury in common-law systems. Scholar George C. Thomas III finds that while

2385-485: The prosecutor can defer to matter to the examining magistrate ( onderzoeksrechter or juge d'instruction ), who is an independent judge and member of the tribunal of first instance ( Rechtbank van eerste aanleg or Tribunal de première instance ). The onderzoeksrechter has the power to question suspects, but not under oath , and may also question witnesses, issue search warrants, and issue detention orders. The onderzoeksrechter generates

2438-402: The public prosecution first directed the investigation by judicial police before transferring the matter to the independent examining magistrate; (2) the examining magistrate conducted examination independent of the prosecutor; and (3) at the end of the examining magistrate's inquiry, the case was returned to the public prosecutor, who made the ultimate decision on "whether to charge or discontinue

2491-462: The public prosecutor's request to use some intrusive special investigative techniques when the prosecutor requests the magistrate to do so. For the most intrusive modes of investigation, such as wiretapping or other telecommunication intercepts , public prosecutors must secure the approval of the examining magistrate. In Latin America , the investigative ( sumario or instrucción ) phase of

2544-466: The realm, and generally the effect of laws, where restricted, was originally applied to one or more of the former kingdoms. Thus, most laws applicable to England also applied to Wales. However, Parliament now passes laws applicable to Wales and not to England (and vice versa), a practice which was rare before the middle of the 20th century. Examples are the Welsh Language Acts 1967 and 1993 and

2597-434: The statutory definition of "England" created by that Act still applies for laws passed before 1967. In new legislation since then, what was referred to as "England" is now "England and Wales", while subsequent references to "England" and "Wales" refer to those political divisions. There have been multiple calls from both Welsh academics and politicians for a Wales criminal justice system . England and Wales are treated as

2650-471: Was eliminated. West Germany abolished the examining magistrate at the end of 1974. Portugal abolished the examining magistrate in 1987. The 1969 film Z stars an examining magistrate based on Christos Sartzetakis . Books Other works England and Wales England and Wales ( Welsh : Cymru a Lloegr ) is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom . It covers

2703-482: Was implemented fully by 2005. The transition to a separation of judicial and investigative roles meant that public prosecutors ( fiscales ) obtained many responsibilities that were historically performed by investigative magistrates. However, investigations in past human rights abuses in Chile have continued to use investigative magistrates at the first stage. Greece, which follows a French-style legal system, has retained

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2756-405: Was made between the examining magistrate, who is responsible for the investigation, and the judge, who issues the rulings. This distinction was considered very important in Europe, where these functions were separated to promote the impartiality of the court." In Chile, for example, examining magistrates formerly had the "triple role" of overseeing the investigation, rendering a verdict, and passing

2809-671: Was not the only element of the 1989 reform that "marked a departure from the inquisitorial French tradition and partly subscribed to adversarial assumptions"; the code revision introduced cross-examination and negotiation between the parties, although it preserved some elements of the continental legal tradition. Before 2011 Switzerland had four different models of inquiry: examining magistrate models I and II ( Untersuchungsrichtermodell ) and public prosecutor models I and II ( Staatsanwaltschaftsmodell ). Different cantons of Switzerland used different models. Under "examining magistrate model I" an independent examining magistrate directed

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