A Sector that "accompanies" the activities of INGV from many points of view, from administrative disputes to those more connected with the mission and the scientific role of the Institute.
We are talking about the Legal Affairs and Litigation Sector which, with a 360-degree view of the Body's activities, is responsible for following and supporting the administrative, technical and scientific profiles of INGV throughout the national territory.
We interviewed the lawyer Pasquale Guidace, who has been at the head of the INGV legal area for years, to better understand the role and functions of the togas of the Institute and find out what is hidden between Codes and files.
Pasquale, what does the work of the Legal Affairs and Litigation Sector of a research body consist of?
The functions of the Sector that I have the honor of directing are extremely delicate and strategic within INGV. In fact, all the offices operating within the Sector support the top management of INGV from a legal and administrative point of view, as well as the Central Management and the Sections located throughout the national territory.
Specifically, the Offices pertaining to the Legal Affairs and Litigation Sector are the International Legal Service and Intellectual Property Office, the Legal Affairs Office, the Regulatory Update and Company Investments Office and the Technology Transfer, Patents and Spin-Off Technical Unit .
Furthermore, the judicial and extrajudicial protection activities of the Institute are extremely delicate, as they are aimed at preventing and settling particularly complex legal disputes.
The Legal Sectors are incardinated within all the Research Institutions, expressly set out by the Legislative Decree 218/2016. These Sectors have an essential role provided for by Law 31/12/2012 n. 247 (new regulation of the forensic order - as an autonomous organic unit, endowed with autonomy and independence, also from a structural and organizational point of view).
Each Legal Officer must be registered in the Special Register of Lawyers of the place where the Administration to which he belongs has its registered office and, even more importantly, the lawyer must guarantee, exclusively, the defense in court of his own Entity.
In the past, a joint mailing list was set up between the Legal Sectors of the various Organizations, aimed at a comparison concerning the most complex current issues from a technical-juridical point of view.
How long have you held the role of Head of this Sector at INGV?
I have held the position of Head of the entire legal area since May 2014, extended over the years with administrative provisions of the top management that have followed.
What does this position mean to you?
Well, holding this position is a privilege for me, above all in consideration of the international prestige of the organization in which I have had the honor of serving for the past seven years.
Your work takes place, precisely, within a research institution: how do legal skills facilitate or support the work of researchers?
I believe that in recent years legal skills have facilitated and supported the work of researchers in numerous fields. Legal opinions were constantly given to INGV researchers, so that their extraordinary support to scientific research could, at the same time, guarantee compliance with the rules.
On the other hand, the researcher is a public employee and, as such, in the exercise of his duties can always incur responsibilities (civil, administrative-accounting, criminal, disciplinary, managerial, ...).
What was, in recent years, the most important professional experience that you would like to tell?
I have had numerous professional experiences… Among these, the most exciting ones have been the appearances in court in the interest of the Institute, which have allowed me to considerably enrich my professional experience in administrative law and labor law.
Have the changes introduced by the Covid-19 emergency in the traditional ways of carrying out the work of the Public Administration - such as, for example, the use of smartworking - affected your business?
Honestly, as far as I'm concerned, I've hardly ever used the smartworking institute. In the first period of the lockdown it was almost necessary to carry out activities remotely, due to fears associated with the expansion of the epidemiological emergency. But, almost immediately, I had to resume working at the headquarters, as certain activities did not make remote work feasible or facilitated.
What future developments, if any, are planned for the Institute's Legal Affairs and Litigation Sector?
For the future, I believe that the Legal Affairs and Litigation Sector must expand, above all in consideration of the multiple regulatory obligations of the Public Administrations which therefore require constant updating and ever greater specialization for the Institute's lawyers.