CSM not working as it should says Nordio

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 18 - The judiciary's self-governing body, the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM), is not working as it should, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio told a congress at the Lower House on Tuesday.
    Nordio has designed a Constitutional reform bill to separate the career paths of judges and prosecutors and to overhaul the way CSM members are elected, which is currently being examined by Parliament.
    The justice minister said an "incapable judge who does not keep up to date must be penalised in his career.
    "So I wonder: how is it possible that 99.99% of the judgments expressed by magistrates on other magistrates are excellent and then something else is discovered? The CSM is not working as it should, otherwise we would not have such discrepancies", he claimed.
    "We all know there are factions", he said, alleging magistrates "protect one another" within the self-governing body.
    The reform is aimed at separating the career paths of prosecutors and judges so members of the judiciary can no longer switch between the two roles.
    The Constitutional reform bill - which has received the first of at least four necessary parliamentary votes for its approval - also creates a high court to discipline members of the judiciary and changes the make-up of the judiciary's self-governing body, using a draw process. (ANSA).