On March 23, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government in Italy faced its most serious setback yet when it lost a referendum on judicial reforms with around 54% of the public voting “No” to the proposed changes while 46% voted “Yes”. The turnout for the referendum was also higher than expected, with almost 60% of the population showing up at the ballot box. While the referendum was fundamentally about the justice system, it had been politicised as a mandate on the government as a whole, with the result giving critics and the Opposition in Italy a strong leg to stand on as the country heads for elections next year.
Clash with the judiciary
Ms. Meloni’s reforms aimed to restructure Italy’s fiercely independent judiciary. It proposed to segregate the career paths of prosecutors and judges, by dividing their overarching governing body, the Superior Council of the Judiciary, into two separate bodies. This would have mandated that prosecutors and judges decide at the very beginning of their careers what they want to be, with a later switch being impossible. The reforms also put forth a new appointments system, where judges/prosecutors would be appointed to key posts in their respective governing bodies by way of a lot system, replacing the earlier mode of elections. It would also allow Parliament to choose a specific number of members to these bodies, also through a lot system. Moreover, these governing bodies would be stripped of their disciplinary powers and a completely different disciplinary court would be set up to monitor the conduct of judges.
