this is how the government will intervene – Corriere.it

They assure the Ministry of Justice that the first package of reforms promised by the Minister of Justice Carlo Nordio is in the pipeline; the meetings to fine-tune it continue at a continuous pace, but there are still no definitive texts. Identified the matters of intervention – abuse of office, tflurry of illicit influences, precautionary measuresinterceptions and security information, and close prescription and remodeling of the figure of public official — for each of them different solutions remain on the table.

Starting right from the first point on the agenda, that crime that the minister would like to cancel altogether but it could only be further weakened compared to the last change just three years ago.

Also the Deputy Minister Francesco Paul Sistoof Forza Italia, would agree with the repeal tout courtbecause pathology is not the outcome of trials, since we are over 92% between acquittals and acquittalsbut the slope of proceedings destined to end up in nothing but produce political-media effects on suspects sometimes irreparable. So that’s where we have to intervene: if a standard doesn’t work and only causes investigations that prove futilemight as well do without it.

Crime to be lightened

However there are resistance in the same majorityabove all by the League – more on a technical than a political level, says Sisto – and then here is the alternative of further restrictions. By removing, for example, the punishment for abuse to obtain an advantage, leaving it only for those who cause damage or for failure to abstain in the face of a conscious conflict of interest. Not saying that any personal interest does not coincide with the public interest, and this must be evaluated, argues the deputy minister.

However, just recently the prosecutor of Rome Franco Lo Voi revealed the discovery of an attempt to rig the judiciary competition by a commissioner who wanted to favor a candidate: A rather serious case in which we could not have done anything without being able to challenge the attempted abuse of office. But the lawyer-deputy minister is not convinced: In situations of this kind I think we can safely assume the attempted fraud, moreover aggravated.

Also on the influence trafficwhich cannot be canceled because it is required by the UN Convention against corruption signed by Italy, are in sight limitations. For example eliminating the vaunted or alleged relationships for illicit mediation with a public official, limited to those actually existing. It is necessary for the conduct to be more defined, in order not to leave too broad scope for interpretation, explains Sisto, who also attaches great importance to the third point on the calendar: precautionary measures.

Precautionary measures

The ministerial intention to entrust the power to arrest to a boarding school of three judges instead of oneessentially transferring it to the current Review Tribunal, and providing that the arrested person can then apply to the Court of Appeal. But the inevitable lengthening of times and the problems of personnel in the judiciary would leave open many exceptions to the rule. In the cases of flagrance and for the measures ofurgency jurisdiction would remain single judgeand reconnaissance is underway to evaluate (especially in the smaller judicial districts) the repercussions on overstretched Courts of Appeal and on incompatibilities: if a magistrate decides on an arrest, in fact, he will not be able to judge that case in the subsequent degrees, and you have to do the accounts to verify the feasibility of such an intervention.

It would also become preventive interrogation of the suspect is mandatoryto which to expose the elements of the accusation to give him the opportunity to clarify your position and prevent an arrest from turning into a judicial error, explains the deputy minister. However, so many would be expected inevitable exceptionsto make the new rule applicable to a limited number of cases.

They would be excluded the most serious crimes (as mafia, terrorism, drugs, murdercriminal association, sexual assault and more) and in the presence of danger of escape or evidence pollution. Therefore, the suspect should be summoned only when the arrest was motivated exclusively by the risk of repetition of the crime; and it will still be necessary to understand how to reconcile the new procedure with investigations in which multiple suspects appear.

Modular reform

On the guarantee notice, the intention is to have the contested fact described more fully, with a sort of anticipation of the chargealbeit provisional. As for wiretaps, Sisto confirms that we don’t want to limit their use in investigations but rather their diffusion, especially as regards non-suspects. Among the measures under study is the prohibition to indicatein measures intended for disclosure, i names of people who run into interceptions
without being involved in the hypothetical crimes. But even on this matter there are still many problems to be solved, and it is foreseeable that after the presentation of the texts to the Council of Ministers, foreseen by the Keeper of the Seals by early Junemore changes will come.

There will be a heated debate in Parliament, where the Third Pole on justice is more with the majority than with the opposition. And the magistrates – already on a war footing against Nordio for the disciplinary action initiated against the Milanese judges of the Uss case – are waiting to see the witnesses before having their say.

Our proposal will be a starting point, albeit accomplished – the deputy minister clarifies – for a system reform that transforms Nordio-thought into reality. But it will also be a modular reform, with separate articles on each topic, so that if one were to fall behind, this would not affect the path of the others.

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