Judiciary

Justice, wall to wall. Csm, Nordio: 'Prevalence of the togati not in question'

The Justice Minister spoke at the Anm congress being held in Palermo: 'There are no things that are irretrievably decided on the reform'

11 May 2024

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"The prevalence of the togati in any reform of the Csm will be absolute. In my original idea, in an ideal world, the Council should be composed only of toga in order to ensure autonomy from political power. In the real world this is not possible, but in all cases of reform the prevalence of the togati is out of the question'. This was stated by the Minister of Justice Carlo Nordio speaking at the 36th congress of the ANM (National Association of Magistrates) in Palermo.

Collaborazione

'I hope there will be no more talk of conflict between politics and the judiciary. We can talk about frank dialogue, about heated dialogue, about opposing ideas, about proposals that may come from you,' he continued. "No one has ever thought that any reform, such as the one that the voters have instructed us to make, would vulnerably affect democracy or even less so the independence of the investigating or judiciary. This in no way means that things have already been written or irretrievably decided. We, always within the frank limits of loyal cooperation, without retrospect or mental reservations, the things we would like to do we say. Those we can do together we will try to do,' Nordio declared in Palermo.

L’Anm

But at the national congress of the ANM it is the day of the wall-to-wall or, in the words of Minister Carlo Nordio, of the 'heated dialogue between opposing positions'. The Guardasigilli arrives in Palermo to reiterate that the government has a mandate from the people to move forward on justice reform. The magistrates, in a series of transversal interventions from the various currents, oppose a clear 'no'.

Schlein

The same 'firm opposition', with particular reference to the separation of careers, expressed by the Pd Elly Schlein secretary. Who scolds: 'it is the antechamber of the submission of the magistrates to the executive'. The marina in the Sicilian capital became a ring of political confrontation and the Dem leader on stage did not spare herself. She attacks the government's reform bill, calling it the piece in 'a mosaic of choices and statements that conceal a certain impatience with the balance of powers'. Schlein indirectly brings up the same deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini and his recent words about 'bugs in the magistrates' offices'. Even the toghe, between the stage and the parterre, reject what for the Naples ANM are 'attacks aimed at delegitimising the entire judiciary'.

The Majority

The Ligurian judicial affair remains the 'stone guest' of the Palermo meeting, but it is only spoken of in hushed tones. Leghist leader Matteo Salvini, on the other hand, sinks: magistrates cannot be 'a caste above everything'. And he attacks 'the dilated times of justice', reiterating the risk that investigations could bring the economy to a halt: 'I hope, however, that there is no one whose aim is to stop the country's development,' he says. From the majority, FdI minister Francesco Lollobrigida also returns to the case. And while declaring that he does not 'have any suspicions about the timing of the Genoa investigation', he emphasises: 'it will be closed after four and a half years, twenty days before the elections'.

Criticism

The 5 Star Giuseppe Conte also intervened on the Ligurian case from the piazza in Genoa, denouncing 'a perverse interweaving between politics and business'. While on her electoral tour in Sicily, Schlein returns to call for the resignation of Liguria Regional President Giovanni Toti. The secretary, at the congress in Palermo, deploys the PD on the side of the magistrates, denouncing the government's 'muscular and aggressive attitude' towards the toga. She links the reform of justice to Autonomy and the Premierate: "They unhinge constitutional principles," she attacks. Thesis shared on stage also by M5s senator Roberto Scarpinato: 'it is a democratic emergency', he says. When Schlein defends the powers of the Head of State, who is the president of the SCM, there is a roar of applause from the magistrates in the audience. Then he makes mea culpa on political delays: often 'it was the judiciary that gave answers that marked an advancement of rights'.

Renzi

The leader of the Iv Matteo Renzi also arrives at the Anm congress, acknowledging: 'The responsibility lies with mediocre and cowardly politics when it accepts the principle that a notice of guarantee implies the resignation of the person who receives it'. He then calls for an end to the '30-year war between politics and the toughe'. And he agrees with the position of Action MP Enrico Costa, who reassures the ANM: "The separation of careers will never be done, from the government only special effects".

The timing of the reform

On the timing of the reform, the Guardasigilli also decelerates, but leaves no room for doubt: the government will bring it home. He repeats it clearly, while trying to use reassuring tones. "The independence of the judiciary is a non-negotiable principle, a contiguity with the executive power is unimaginable," he says several times, guaranteeing that "in any reform of the SCC the prevalence of the members of the judiciary will be absolute. And he emphasises that he will in any case keep the Bordeaux Declaration as a beacon for any intervention on the matter. A clarification that does not convince either the vice-president of the National Association of Magistrates Alessandra Maddalena or the audience that is clamouring. 'The minister,' says Maddalena, 'reminded us of the Bordeaux Declaration to tell us that Europe also wants separation. I take the liberty of saying that I read that declaration in exactly the opposite sense'.