New immunity bill ready
Constitutional measure will cover top political figures
28 April, 18:44
(ANSA) - Rome, April 28 - The government is ready to
present a constitutional law to give top political figures legal
immunity while in office to replace a stop-gap measure which
lasts 18 months, Senate sources told ANSA on Wednesday.The measure will apply only to the president, the premier and cabinet ministers, the sources said.
It would not cover the speakers of the House and the Senate because in that case it would have to be extended to all parliamentarians.
It would replace the so-called 'legitimate impediment' law which allows Premier Silvio Berlusconi not to attend two ongoing trials against him in Milan on corruption and fraud charges because they interfere with his duties.
Announcing plans to draft a constitutional measure, Justice Minister Angelino Alfano said earlier this month that the legitimate impediment law gave the government ample time to obtain parliamentary approval, a lengthy process in the case of constitutional bills.
The bill would in part revive the so-called Alfano law, approved by parliament in 2008, which froze trials against the premier, the president and House and Senate Speakers while in office.
Striking down that law, the Constitutional Court said it denied the fundamental principle that everyone is equal before the law and was therefore unconstitutional.
Unlike the Alfano law, the draft of the constitutional bill the government is set to present to the Senate would not freeze trials until parliament gives its okay.
It would halt proceedings only while the defendant holds office, the sources told ANSA.
According to the government, the legitimate impediment law was a ''necessary measure'' because Milan courts had so far disregarded the importance of Berlusconi's official engagements when asked to postpone hearings.
The opposition has blasted the law as "shameful, unfair" and unconstitutional since, they claim, it too goes against the principle of equality.
Responding to the leaks on the new measure, the centre left said the government was again set to present laws which are tailor-made to help the premier deal with his legal woes.
Antonio Di Pietro, leader of the opposition Italy of Values (IdV) party, said it was "disgraceful that despite all the problems facing Italy, with people struggling to make ends meet and businesses shutting down, parliament is forced to deal with tailor-made measures whose only aim is guaranteeing the premier everlasting immunity". Berlusconi is on trial in Milan for bribing British corporate lawyer David Mills to withhold testimony in two previous trials.
The second Berlusconi trial concerns alleged tax fraud in the sale of film rights by his Mediaset group.
The premier, who denies all wrongdoing, says he is the victim of persecution by a politically inspired judiciary.
His trials, which all regard his activity as an entrepreneur before entering politics in 1994, have never produced a definitive conviction although in some cases he has been cleared because of law changes.
The judges in both trials have asked the Constitutional Court to rule on the legitimacy of the stop-gap measure.
They claim it should have been approved by parliament as an amendment to the constitution and said that as it stands, the legitimate impediment law probably contravenes Article 138 of the 1948 Constitution which regulates the approval process for constitutional laws.
They believe it may also contravene Article 3 of the constitution on the equality of citizens.
