[nkkollaw]

It's not their job per se, but they don't blindly follow the law, they apply it.

There are many, many cases where a judge will go against a law and create a precedent, which most of the times will be followed in following trials if the situation is the same or very similar.

[Heliosmaster]

One thing: italian law follows civil law, not common, so precedents are not like in the US (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precedent#Civil_law_systems).

[nkkollaw]

It's similar, actually.

They still take precedents into great consideration, although they're not binding.