Premier Giorgia Meloni has faith in
magistrates, sources in the judiciary's self-governing body, the
Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM), said on Wednesday after a
meeting between CSM Vice-President Fabio Pinelli and the prime
minister was criticized by members of the opposition and of the
judiciary.
The meeting on Monday, revealed that "the prime minister has
confidence in the judiciary and is in no way interested in
controversies", the sources said.
Pinelli on Wednesday said he was available to meet with the
magistrate members of the self-governing body to discuss the
meeting.
The talks were slammed as "inappropriate" by members of the
opposition, including Democratic Party (PD) lawmaker and former
justice minister Andrea Orlando who said meetings between
government members and the vice-president of CSM "are such
common practice that a right-wing newspaper, to deny my claim,
has cited as many as two precedents, one in 2006 and another in
the 1980s - in both cases in quite a different climate regarding
the relationship between the government and CSM".
Justice Minister Carlo Nordio on Wednesday said it was perfectly
normal for such a meeting to take place.
Such talks "do not violate any practice or State law", the
justice minister said.
Thirteen out of the 20 magistrate members of CSM, with the
exclusion of the seven members of the conservative Magistratura
Indipendente (MI), have asked Pinelli to report on the meeting
in a note stressing that it took place at a particularly
delicate time in the relationship between members of the
government and the judiciary.
The majority of the magistrate members of the CSM voted to
request to open a special procedure to protect the independence
and autonomy of judges twice last month, once for magistrates in
Bologna who were under heavy fire for referring a government
measure on migrants to the European Court of Justice and a
similar request for Rome judges who ruled against holding
migrants at a new migrant centre Italy has opened in Albania.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
