Nordio stands his ground on justice reforms

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 14 - Justice Minister Carlo Nordio said Friday that he was pressing ahead with plans to separate the careers of Italian prosecutors and judges, so that it is no longer possible to switch from one role to the other, despite staunch opposition from magistrates union ANM.
    Speaking via a video link to a convention in Turin, Nordio said the time frame for this reform would be discussed at a meeting of the parties of the ruling majority before parliament's summer break.
    He said it would probably be necessary to change the Constitution to pass this reform.
    Earlier on Friday the ANM said that the government's plans to make the careers of prosecutors and judges separate was "dangerous for democracy".
    ANM President Giuseppe Santalucia said that "it is a reform that opens the way to others", such as the removal of obligation for prosecutors to take action when a crime has been committed and thus make prosecution 'discretionary'.
    He suggested this would be a way of putting the judiciary under "political control".
    There is also tension over other parts of Nordio's reforms, which President Sergio Mattarella and Premier Giorgia Meloni discussed during had an hour-long meeting on Thursday, sources said.
    The ruling majority said the meeting took place "without tension".
    One issue that has raised concern is Nordio's comments about the possibility of changing the crime of external involvement in mafia association.
    On Thursday Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano said this was not on the agenda.
    "The government won't take any steps backwards on organized crime," Mantovano said.
    "There are other priorities".
    Justice Undersecretary Francesco Paolo Sisto, meanwhile, said Friday that the government intends to go all the way with plans to abolish the crime of abuse of office and change the felony of influence peddling.
    "We are determined to go all the way with our proposal and Minister Nordio won't give any ground on this front," Sisto told RAI radio.
    Those measures are contained in a justice-reform bill that also includes a clamp-down on the publication of information obtained from wiretaps and the cancellation of prosecutors' rights to appeal against acquittals for many minor crimes.
    Nordio said the crime of abuse of office was being scrapped because it is too vague and discourages local politicians and civil servants from signing off on projects due to fears they will end up under investigation for it, thus causing "economic damage that affects citizens". (ANSA).