This was announced by a government spokesman on Thursday evening. This should end weeks of friction in the multi-party coalition of Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Judicial reform is one of several measures Draghi has promised the European Union to receive € 200 billion from several EU economic stimulus programs. The Five Star Movement, the largest ruling party in Italy, had called for changes to a reform proposed by Justice Minister Marta Cartabia, which was passed by the cabinet on July 8 but not yet submitted to parliament.
Duration of the procedure as the key issue
Because of the judicial reform, Draghi, who has been prime minister since February, had to postpone other planned reforms such as those of the tax system and competition rules. The main focus of judicial reform is deadlines for the duration of judicial proceedings. In the future, processes should simply be terminated if no final judgment is made within a certain period of time.
The Five Star Movement and many prosecutors said Cartabia’s proposal had shortened tens of thousands of trials, undermined the judiciary, allowed criminals to evade conviction, and posed a threat to public safety. Therefore, changes to the legislative proposal have been discussed for a long time.
“The cabinet unanimously approved the technical adjustments proposed by the government,” tweeted a government spokesman after a meeting that lasted most of the day on Thursday. Accordingly, the deadlines proposed by Cartabia to shorten the process will not apply to offenses related to organized crime, terrorism, sexual violence or drug trafficking, the spokesman said.
Too many statutes of limitations
The Italian judicial system has three levels of judgment. Defendants can appeal twice. Due to the length of the proceedings, far more cases are statute-barred in Italy than in other European countries.
Nicola Gratteri, one of Italy’s best-known anti-mafia prosecutors, told Parliament that the reform, in its original form, would have resulted in 50 percent of the appeal proceedings being closed. Following the changes decided on Thursday, mafia crimes can be prosecuted on appeal for up to six years until 2024 and up to five years thereafter, according to a government source.
The new five-star boss and former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was satisfied with the compromise reached. “While this is not our reform, we have worked constructively to help improve it,” Conte told reporters. He added that he was “absolutely confident” that the five-star MPs will now support the reform in parliament.