European Committee of Social Rights, Decision on the merits, Associazione Nazionale Giudici di Pace v. Italy (Complaint No. 102/2013) (Publicity: 16 November 2016)

The European Committee on Social Rights declared inacceptable any inequality in treatment in social security of the Justices of the Peace (“giudici di pace”) compared to regular judges or other categories of judges. According to the Committee, Italy has violated the principle of non-discrimination with regard to the acquisition of substantive rights. Under Article 12 of the European Social Charter, States are required to ensure the delivery, maintenance and restoration of social security rights by means of the totalization of periods of contribution or work completed under the legislation of each of the Contracting Parties. The Italian Government’s justifications on the legitimacy of diversity in the social security system due to differences in selection procedures were not well founded.