The Campania Regional Administrative Court (TAR) on Thursday referred to the Constitutional Court the suspension of Naples Mayor Luigi de Magistris, restoring him to office pending the outcome. De Magistris was suspended October 1 after receiving a suspended 15-month sentence for abusing his power to order unwarranted wiretaps in his previous career as a headline-grabbing public prosecutor. He was suspended based on a law introduced during the Mario Monti administration in 2012 designed to fight corruption among public officials.
It was wielded in 2013 to eject ex-premier and then-Senator Silvio Berlusconi from parliament after he received a suspended four-year sentence for tax fraud.
De Magistris is currently the target of a fresh probe into tampering with the America's Cup which took place in the southern Italian city last year.
News that his appeal was ruled admissible was greeted with applause and shouts of joy at his office in city hall, where councillors crowded to congratulate him.
De Magistris denies all wrongdoing.
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