Giuseppe Tesauro, the president of Italy's Constitutional Court, on Monday suggested parliament should re-examine a 2012 anti-corruption law under which ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi was ejected from parliament last year.
The Campania regional administrative court (TAR) recently referred to the Constitutional Court an appeal by Naples Mayor Luigi de Magistris, who was suspended from office after an abuse-of-office conviction in a court of first instance.
The Campania TAR overturned the ban against de Magistris ban, essentially reinstating him, pending the Constitutional Court's decision. "I always prefer parliament when it comes (to a choice) between lawmakers and a judge," Tesauro said, referring to the so-called Severino law, named after former justice minister Paola Severino. "So if parliament wanted to intervene...I'm sure it would be better, healthier." Berlusconi - who has always argued that the anti-corruption law was applied to him retroactively - hailed the TAR's decision.
"This induces me to hope that, after so many months of darkness, justice will prevail over political convenience at last," Berlusconi said.
The Severino law was adopted before the Supreme Court upheld a tax-fraud conviction against him, although the original sentence predates it.
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