(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 4 - The government's reform of Italy's
criminal justice system was approved by the Lower House on
Tuesday and is set to move to the Senate in September after
parliament's summer recess.
The reform, aimed at speeding up the system, was approved with
396 votes in favour, 57 against and three abstentions.
The package caused considerable tension within Premier Mario
Draghi's coalition before a compromise was reached at a cabinet
meeting last week.
The reform, drafted by Justice Minister Marta Cartabia, sets
limits on the time it can take to rule on first appeals and on
cases at the supreme court.
It effectively waters down a reform passed by Alfonso Bonafede,
a 5-Star Movement (M5S) lawmaker who was the justice minister in
ex-premier Giuseppe Conte's two coalition governments from June
2018 until the start of this year.
Bonafede's reform puts the statue of limitations on hold after
the first-instance ruling in order to stop criminals getting off
because their cases get timed out due to the slowness of the
legal system.
The judiciary's self-governing body, the CSM, said a huge number
of cases would end up being shelved if the Cartabia reform had
been is approved in its original form.
The M5S demanded changes to the reform to stop this happening,
which led to a compromise in which crimes regarding the mafia,
terrorism, sexual violence and criminal association are handled
under a different regime.
Some M5S members were not satisfied though.
Two M5S MPs voted against the reform on Tuesday and 16 were
absent.
Speeding up Italy's notoriously slow judicial system is
necessary, among other things, because the granting of EU COVID
Recovery Plan funds is conditional upon it. (ANSA).
Lower House approves criminal justice reform
Package now moves to the Senate