Administration of Justice and Judicial function Jurisdiction is one of the three fundamental functions of a democratic State - together with the legislative and governing ones - and it aims at giving actual application to the laws regulating the legal system. The Italian system of courts has two distinct categories: the ordinary jurisdiction and special jurisdictions. The ordinary jurisdiction is administered by career judges – provided for and governed by the laws regulating the system of courts – who are competent for civil and criminal matters, with the exclusion solely of those matters reserved to the jurisdiction of special judges. The special jurisdictions of the Italian legal system are: the administrative jurisdiction, exercised by the Tribunali Amministrativi Regionali – TAR (Regional Administrative Courts) and by the Consiglio di Stato (Council of State) for controversies against the civil service; the auditing jurisdiction, exercised by the Corte dei Conti (State Auditors' Department) for matters concerning public accountancy; military jurisdiction, exercised by the Tribunali Militari (Military Courts), by the Corti Militari di Appello (Military Appeal Courts) and by the Tribunali Militari di Sorveglianza (Military Surveillance Courts), for military offences committed by members of the Armed Forces; fiscal jurisdiction, exercised by the Commissioni Tributarie Provinciali (Provincial Fiscal Commissions) and by the Commissioni Tributarie Distrettuali (Distric Fiscal Commissions), for matters concerning taxes. The organs which provide for the administration of the ordinary civil and criminal justice are: Giudice di pace (Justice of the Peace) Tribunale ordinario (Trial Court) Tribunale di sorveglianza (Court responsible for the Enforcement of sentences) Tribunale per i minorenni (Juvenile Court) Corte di appello (Court of Appeal) Corte di cassazione (Court of Cassation – the highest court of appeal) There are also other special organs: the Corte di Assise (Court of Assize), composed of 2 career judges and 6 lay judges, competent for very serious crimes; the Tribunale Regionale delle Acque Pubbliche (Regional Court of Waters) and the Tribunale Superiore delle Acque Pubbliche (High Court of Waters), competent for controversies on waters which are property of the State. The Pubblico Ministero (Public Prosecutor) is an organ of the State present at the Corte di Cassazione, namely the Procura Generale (Office of the Prosecutor General), at the Corti di Appello, namely the Procure Generali (Offices of the Prosecutor General), at the Tribunali ordinari and at the Tribunali per i minorenni, namely Procure della Repubblica (Offices of the State Prosecutor). Moreover, in each Office of the State Prosecutor attached to the courts located in the district capitals, there is a Direzione Distrettuale Antimafia (District Anti-Mafia Division). These divisions are made up of prosecutors specialized in investigating organized crime. Within the Office of the Prosecutor General attached to the Court of Cassation there is the Direzione Nazionale Antimafia (State Anti-Mafia Division) which co-ordinates the investigations carried out by the District Divisions. The offices of the Pubblico Ministero are held by career judges who exercise their functions under the supervision of the Minister of Justice. Their task is to ensure that the laws are observed, that justice is administered promptly and regularly, that the repression of crime is promoted (they are entitled to start a criminal action) and that security measures are enforced. Pursuant to Art. 104 of the Constitution, "the judiciary constitutes an autonomous and independent organ and is not subject to any other power of the State". This institutional independence is guaranteed by the Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura, which is an autonomous organ presided by the President of the Republic and is composed of two members by right of law (President of the Corte di Cassazione and Procuratore Generale attached to the Corte di Cassazione) and by 24 elective members (of which 16 are elected by the judges and are judges themselves and 8 are elected by Parliament and are lawyers or university professors of law). The Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura also attends to the judges' recruitment, assignments, transfers, promotions and disciplining (Art. 105 of the Constitution). The administration of Ordinary Justice This is one of the most important functions of the State. Justice is administered by judges who operate in the courts located throughout the national territory. The CSM instructs the Heads of the offices on the composition of the offices within the district and on how the judges should be assigned to them. The administrative services, connected with the exercise of the jurisdictional function, are governed by the Minister of Justice, who avails himself of a central structure based in Rome and of peripheral offices attached to the Courts. In the peripheral offices, the administrative personnel carries out – under the direction of the Head of Office and of a director – tasks which support the judicial activity (keeping the documents of the proceedings, publication of the judges' decisions, enforcement of judicial provisions) as well as purely administrative tasks (personnel, budget, administration).