Full text of the interview given to "Il Sole24Ore Roma" by the Attorney General of the State, Oscar Fiumara. Article published on October 29, 2008. What are the main competences of the General State Attorney? contentious and consultative on all matters falling within the jurisdiction of the State. It deals primarily and exclusively with questions of international, community and constitutional law. Of particular importance is the representation of the national government in the litigation before the Court of Justice of the European Community, which is constantly expanding, which deals with issues of particular importance, not only economic but also relating to the fundamental rights of the individual (by way of purely by way of example, the issues relating to the compatibility of IRAP with the EU legal system are recalled). The protection of typical Italian products, the golden share in public society, in-house tenders. No less important is the activity before the Constitutional Court, where on the one hand the dispute between the central State and the Regions is handled, especially in these times when the contours and limits of the federalist structure of the State are being defined, and on the other, incidental issues that concern every sector of law (from fundamental freedoms to economic ones, from public to private law). What other areas is the Advocacy General of the State in Rome most committed to? The other fields on which the AGS is heavily involved in Rome are those of the higher courts (Council of State, Court of Cassation), as well as the Lazio TAR, which centralizes the most relevant competences in matters of relations between citizens and businesses on the one hand and the public administration on the other. In particular, before the Court of Cassation, most of the work of the AGS takes place tax litigation: with the contribution of the AGS, the Court of Cassation can establish the general principles of the relationship between the taxpayer and the tax authorities, especially in application of the principles of the taxpayer's statute. The Council of State engages the AGS in almost all the most relevant issues of public interest that continually arise. The dispute in the field of public economic law is very significant, for example in the matter of tenders for the award of public works and services contracts, in which the delicate aspect of the compensation of the expectations of companies that have suffered illegitimate exclusions is defined. from the races. But the matter is the largest and most varied. Recently the AGS successfully dealt with the issues relating to the expansion of the Dal Molin Barracks in Vicenza before the Council of State. And what about the Lazio TAR? The Lazio TAR is the most current and lively front of administrative litigation. Of particular interest are the disputes concerning the challenge of the provisions of the Authorities, in which the AGS defends the legitimacy of the measures adopted by the various Authorities now for the protection of consumers, now in defense of users of essential public services, in order not to forget those regarding the protection of the privacy of each of us. But the competence is vast; recently, p. e.g., the Lazio Regional Administrative Court was called by a consumer association to rule on the legitimacy of the procedures followed by the State Administration to deal with the Alitalia crisis. consultative seat? In which matters in Rome is requested greater activity in the consultative session? The contribution of the AGS is prevalent in the litigation field compared to the consultative one. We have already mentioned the dispute. The consultative committee touches on the most various topics, and primarily concerns the regulatory activity, in which consultations are made both at the request of the Administration and, if necessary, by way of a direct proposal to the same. In the field of administrative activity, consultations are characterized by the general purpose and direction they cover for all administrative action, rather than by their connection with local problems. For example, the AGS has given significant opinions in the recent past regarding the issue of the publication of taxpayers' lists. What are the main differences between Rome and the main district attorneys for both litigation and consultative activities? in Lazio it also deals with problems of local importance as well as the district lawyers with regard to the district of their competence, the main differences between the AGS and the districts may concern, as already mentioned with regard to the consultative, the general projection or, instead , more local than the legal assistance service being rendered. The main characteristic of the State Attorney's Office is, in fact, that it is both an organ of general coordination of administrative action (due to its juridical profiles), and a body deeply rooted in the territory: in this way it is ensured that the perception of problems take place from their first arising. To return to an example already given, the case of the Dal Molin barracks was born from an appeal before the TAR of the Veneto, and the first body of the State that had to face it was the District Attorney of Venice. It is essential that this circulation of experiences between the center and the periphery is always kept alive.How much have the disputes linked to the Pinto law been growing in recent years? process was constant, reaching about five thousand new cases a year. There are undoubtedly still many and precisely in order to reduce the dispute on the matter - in addition to the main objective of ensuring faster justice times - it would be desirable that methods for resolving possible disputes already in the pre-litigation phase, to try to prevent the occurrence of disputes through the recourse to settlement agreements between State and citizen, as well as the State Bar in the recent past proposed to the Government. What are the prospects? IT development. As regards specifically the telematic process, some district offices are already participating - it must be said with good results - in the experimental phase to computerize the civil process promoted by the Ministry of Justice. At the same time, the Advocacy is proceeding with a complete computerization in the handling of the cases, both through the creation of its own office file in electronic form and through the possibility for the sponsored Administrations to access their database with a direct computer interview. become a lawyer of the state? When was the last contest? And when next? . You become a state attorney through a public competition open to law graduates, while to become a state lawyer you must pass a public competition reserved for the aforementioned state prosecutors, magistrates, managers of public bodies and lawyers of the free forum, who are in possession certain requirements. Both bankruptcy procedures have been completed recently and it is hoped that others can be announced by 2009. It must be added in all frankness that in both cases they are national competitions that require very extensive and careful preparation; but the delicacy of the tasks to which one is called upon passing the competition is such that the preparation required of the candidates can only be of the same level. Is the number of state lawyers on duty sufficient to ensure an adequate defense? of “toga” personnel are practically covered and, although an increase in the workforce is required, no requests have been made to increase the staffing resources of prosecutors and lawyers due to awareness of the current known difficulties in public finance. We are moving through a meditated distribution on a national level of the “toga” personnel, carried out according to the number and importance of the business. What, on the other hand, cannot be further deferred, is a limited increase in "administrative" personnel, which it is hoped will become a reality in the immediate future.