The overwhelming majority of the
magistrate members of the Italian judiciary's self-governing
body, the Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM), on Monday voted
to request to open a special procedure to protect the
independence and autonomy of Bologna judges who are under heavy
fire for referring a government measure on migrants to the
European Court of Justice.
The Bologna judges referred a measure defining a list of safe
countries for repatriation to the EU court to ask whether the
principle of the primacy of EU law should prevail if a conflict
arises with Italian legislation in relation to an appeal
presented by an asylum seeker from Bangladesh.
The government measure listing 19 countries, including
Bangladesh, as safe, said Italian courts cannot rule against it
on the basis of an October 4 European Court of Justice sentence,
which was the basis of Rome judges' decision to nix the
detention of a group of migrants at a new Italian-run centre in
Albania last month.
The move that sparked accusations, including from members of
Premier Giorgia Meloni's government, that the judiciary was
encroaching the political realm.
The request for protection was backed by all but three of the 20
magistrates on the CSM, two-thirds of which come from the
judiciary itself, with the other third nominated by parliament.
The three not in favour were among the seven members of the
conservative Magistratura Indipendente group.
The request said the Bologna court's decision had been "the
subject of highly polemical statements by holders of high
institutional offices" and this resulted in a situation of
"unacceptable pressure on judges" that would be "objectively
conditioning for those who in the future have to deal with the
same issues.
"Therefore, it undermines the independence of the entire
judiciary," it said.
A similar request for protection for the Rome judges who ruled
against holding the migrants at the Albanian centre was also
approved by a majority the CSM magistrates but without the
support of Magistratura Indipendente.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
