Commission decides to refer ITALY to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to align its rules on working conditions for honorary judges with EU law

Today, the European Commission decided to refer Italy to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to bring its national legislation on honorary judges fully in line with EU labour law. This case concerns honorary judges recruited after 15 August 2017. The Commission considers that the Italian legislation still fails to comply with EU rules on fixed-term work, on part-time work, and on working time.  

The Commission launched this infringement procedure in July 2021 by sending a letter of formal notice to the Italian authorities, followed by an additional letter of formal notice in July 2022, a reasoned opinion in July 2023, and an additional reasoned opinion in October 2024. The Commission considers that efforts by the authorities have, to date, been insufficient and is therefore referring Italy to the Court of Justice of the European Union. 

At the same time, the Commission has today opened a new infringement case against Italy by sending a letter of formal notice concerning honorary judges who were already in service on 15 August 2017. Since Italian law sets out different rules for judges depending on whether they were appointed before or after that date, the Commission is pursuing two separate infringement procedures. 

Background 

The Directive on fixed-term work (Directive 1999/70/EC) ensures that fixed-term workers are not treated less favourably than permanent workers and requires Member States to prevent abuse from successive fixed-term contracts. The Directive on part-time work (Directive 97/81/EC) prohibits unjustified discrimination against part-time workers and aims to improve the quality of part-time work. Finally, the Directive on working time (Directive 2003/88/EC) establishes minimum standards on daily and weekly rest, maximum weekly working time, and paid annual leave, safeguarding workers' health and safety. 

In Italy, several categories of honorary judges – honorary justices of the peace, honorary deputy prosecutors, and honorary court judges – do not enjoy the status of a ‘worker' under Italian national law but are considered ‘volunteers' providing services on an ‘honorary' basis. They receive less favourable treatment than comparable tenured judges regarding several working conditions, such as allowances in case of illness, accidents and pregnancy, fiscal treatment, paid annual leave and modalities and level of pay. They do not receive compensation in case of abusive use of successive fixed-term contracts. Moreover, there is no system for measuring their working time. 

For more information 

EU infringement procedure 

Infringement decisions database and infringements map and graphs  

October 2025 infringement package  

Infringement decision Italy (INFR(2016)4081)