The judiciary's self-governing body,
the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM), is not working as it
should, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio told a congress at the
Lower House on Tuesday.
Nordio has designed a Constitutional reform bill to separate the
career paths of judges and prosecutors and to overhaul the way
CSM members are elected, which is currently being examined by
Parliament.
The justice minister said an "incapable judge who does not keep
up to date must be penalised in his career.
"So I wonder: how is it possible that 99.99% of the judgments
expressed by magistrates on other magistrates are excellent and
then something else is discovered? The CSM is not working as it
should, otherwise we would not have such discrepancies", he
claimed.
"We all know there are factions", he said, alleging magistrates
"protect one another" within the self-governing body.
The reform is aimed at separating the career paths of
prosecutors and judges so members of the judiciary can no longer
switch between the two roles.
The Constitutional reform bill - which has received the first of
at least four necessary parliamentary votes for its approval -
also creates a high court to discipline members of the judiciary
and changes the make-up of the judiciary's self-governing body,
using a draw process.
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