Sicily is facing a dramatic shortage of state prosecutors willing to work on the Italian island, creating a major obstacle in the fight against the mafia, the National Judicial Association said today.

The association, which represents almost all of Italy's 9,000 magistrates, said there was a "very serious emergency" on the Mediterranean island after a tender for public prosecutors reportedly attracted just four candidates.

"The situation today appears dramatic: there are many judicial offices which risk being paralysed or destined for closure," the association said in an open letter to Italy's Superior Judicial Council, which regulates the judiciary.

Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper, citing unofficial figures, said there were only four applicants for 55 public prosecutors' jobs in Sicily, all of whom were already working on the island.

In recent years, Italy has weakened the Sicilian Mafia -- known as Cosa Nostra -- with the arrests of several high-profile mobsters, including "boss of bosses" Bernardo Provenzano in 2006 and his heir apparent Salvatore Lo Piccolo in 2007.

But the fight against organised crime on the island still suffers from a lack of resources and manpower.

Aside from the threat of violence, the association said magistrates were deterred by poor pay and working conditions, the isolation of many rural offices and rules preventing newly-hired prosecutors from applying.

The fight against Cosa Nostra has claimed several high-profile judicial victims. The assassination of crusading anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in bomb attacks in 1992 outraged public opinion and prompted scrutiny of the links between mafiosi and politicians.