JUSTICE PROCEDURES MUST BE ACCELERATED

VATICAN CITY, MAR 31, 2000 (VIS) - Today in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope received 1,000 participants in a congress organized by the Italian Association of Magistrates on the occasion of their Jubilee.

In his address, John Paul II affirmed that "wherever the fundamental rights of man - the inalienable rights that no ruling can suppress - are codified in legislation, there still remains the possibility of a more complete juridical expression and, above all, of a better and more effective application in the real context of social life."

"A juridical civilization, a State of law, a democracy worthy of the name," he emphasized, "are defined, not only by the effective organization of their laws, but above all by those laws being solidly anchored in the logic of the common good and in the universal moral principles written by God in the heart of man."

After highlighting the "necessary independence" of judicial power in the legal environment, he added: "The magistracy cannot be truly independent if it is inattentive to the values rooted in the nature of the human being, whose inalienable dignity and transcendental destiny must always be respected."

The Holy Father emphasized that "justice must spare no efforts in assuring its procedures are carried out rapidly: if unduly long, citizens find them intolerable and they eventually become a true injustice. It is also important that the magistrates's relationship with the media be marked by an appropriate reserve, so as to avoid any risk of prejudicing the privacy of the accused and at the same time effectively ensuring respect for the principle of the presumption of innocence."

"The search for the truth in events and evidence and the correct application of the law, are two highly important aspects of the judge's role and require total freedom from prejudice and a constant commitment to study and analysis."

In closing, the Pope referred to justified reactions when the magistracy is called to make up for "shortcomings in legislative power, especially when the life and death of man, biotechnology or problems of public morality are at stake, (these are) the essential themes of liberty which must never degenerate into an individualism that ignores the common good."

AC;MAGISTRACY;...;...;VIS;20000331;Word: 370;