INQUISIZIONE GIUDIZIALE. — Investigation that must be conducted before the citation of the accused, when the offense is neither notorious nor entirely certain; it may be carried out ex officio by the Ordinary or following a denunciation by the promoter of justice. The purpose of the investigation is to avoid criminal proceedings as far as possible when there are no valid reasons and arguments for considering the actual existence of an offense and the guilt of a specific person.
The investigation may be: 1) general: that of the Ordinary concerning the observance of the laws by his subjects; 2) special: when it is conducted by a delegated judge for each individual denunciation. Judicial is the investigation that must precede a criminal trial; extrajudicial is that which precedes the imposition of penal remedies. The inquisitor is bound by the same obligations as the judge and may not be the judge in the proceedings that may subsequently follow the investigation. The inquisitor’s powers are regulated by the Ordinary, although in the exercise of his functions he enjoys considerable freedom of action. Once the judicial investigation has been concluded, if the denunciation appears unfounded, the acts are placed in the secret archive; if there are only indications insufficient to bring an action, the person under suspicion will be placed under surveillance and may also be interrogated; if, on the other hand, there are sufficient grounds to initiate the criminal trial, the presumed offender will first be summoned and interrogated, after which proceedings will continue through the correptio delinquenti and the instructio processus criminalis.