Abstract

The image of the judicial function is a public good and is part of the general interest of the community. The Italian judiciary has experienced difficulties for several decades and this may deprive them of the necessary authority; at the same time their media exposure has increased. We have witnessed profound changes in the direct and indirect representation of justice, and as a result the mood of public opinion has been seesawing. From exaltation of the Mani Pulite pool we moved to the equally uncritical condemnation of the «government of judges», to the de-legitimization. If at the beginning of the '90 public corruption was widely debated in the press, nowadays even the most important scandals are backgrounded. Ever there had been so few reactions from the public on the facts so serious. As illegal and criminal power grow closer to the ruling class, judges are increasingly transformed from law representatives into intermediaries between society and the State, and as a consequence they find themselves in conflict with the governing politicians. The common perception of the judicial field then becomes a duel through ups and downs that depend on the political context. The problem of the relationship between politics, the judiciary and the media is part of the dynamics of complex systems: a dynamic that troubles many contemporary democracies, which may jeopardize the delicate balance currently scaffolding the architecture of the Republic.