(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 20 - The Supreme Court of Cassation is set to examine a government appeal against rulings by a Sicilian court striking down parts of a new migrant decree on January 30, 2024, judicial sources said on Monday. The joint Civil Sections of Italy's highest court will look at the decision by judges belonging to the specialised immigration section of Catania tribuna to reject orders for migrants from Tunisia to be detained at a new pre-removal facility in the Sicilian port city of Pozzallo for the duration of the asylum procedure.
    The judges overturned the detention orders issued under the terms of the so-called Cutro decree introducing detention for asylum-seekers from so-called safe countries of origin, including Tunisia, on grounds it contravened a 2013 European directive laying down standards for the reception of applicants for international protection.
    One of the judges in question was Iolanda Apostolico, who ended up at the centre of a political storm after Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini accused her of bias.
    He posted a video showing Apostolico at a protest demonstration in Catania in 2018 against the closed-ports policy he introduced as interior minister that year and calling for the immediate disembarkation of hundreds of rescued migrants and refugees being kept onboard the Coast Guard ship Diciotti as a result.
    Salvini's right-wing League party, a partner in the right-centre coalition of Premier Georgia Meloni, is also reported to have drafted a review of the specialised sections dealing with immigration, international protection and freedom of movement in EU countries, which were introduced under a 2017 law to create a body of expertise on issues that are at the intersection of international, EU and domestic law.
    The aim of the proposed changes is to ensure quicker proceedings and the independence of rulings, sources said.
    Photo: Judge Iolanda Apostolico in a frame from the video showing her at a demonstration in Catania in 2018 to call for the immediate disembarkation of migrants and refugees on board the Diciotti. (ANSA).