The renewal of the representatives of the forensic orders is scheduled between January and February. In Torre Annunziata, voting will take place on February 3. The timing for the legal profession is not the best. We discuss this with the lawyer Elio D'Aquino, a well-known criminal lawyer from the Torre Annunziata bar, former president of the Criminal Chamber and vice president of the Oplontini bar association.
You are not a candidate this year. A voluntary choice?
“No. In reality it is a matter of respecting the rules. The Court of Cassation has crystallized an orientation that makes lawyers elected for two consecutive terms ineligible. This is my case”.
How is the legal profession experiencing this phase of legal policy?
"The legal profession is experiencing one of the darkest moments in its history. We must have the courage to admit it. The reasons are profound and are rooted in absolutely deviant strategic choices that date back to a few decades ago, when indiscriminate access to the register was preferred for electoral reasons or to strengthen the bargaining power of the lobby at a national level, to the detriment of the prestige and authority that has always distinguished the legal profession".
What is causing this crisis?
“In recent years, numerous lawyers have been removed from the register, some of them well-known. We are now in the hundreds. Many prefer more practical solutions, such as the office of the trial judge or employment in some registry.
This is the symptom of a struggling legal profession and of a very delicate historical moment. There is also a crisis of representation and a difficulty in identifying credible points of reference, with disastrous consequences in the relationship with the Magistrates. This fact is incontrovertible. The only exception is represented by the Criminal Chamber, which has not lost its identity and continues to be the protagonist of courageous battles”.
There are three lists competing in this election, will you support anyone in particular?
“I will support the list led by Antonio Cesarano, in particular those candidates from the area with whom I have shared a path of discussion that began some time ago.
It is a choice of loyalty towards brave colleagues who, like me, have opened a constructive debate within the order with their resignations. Obviously, it is not a choice against the other sides, but simply of coherence, a principle that has long since deserted our existences.
I hope that after these votes the Torre del Greco legal profession will be able to find unity and compactness as a last chance to recover the lost prestige and above all to continue to interpret that glorious task entrusted to us by the founding fathers".
What do you think of the controversy surrounding Justice Minister Nordio?
“I am with Nordio without ifs or buts. The great battles of the criminal lawyers finally mark a landing in his reform proposals.
In the meantime, however, new challenges are already beginning. In the United States, defendants will soon be able to defend themselves with the help of artificial intelligence tools! But that's another story!
Article published on 25 January 2023 - 19:58
