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".
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