A government meeting on Tuesday
night failed to reach an agreement over a reform of criminal
trials and the statute of limitations.
Ex-premier Matteo Renzi's Italia Viva (IV) party, a member of
the ruling coalition, slammed a proposal by Premier Giuseppe
Conte to freeze the statute of limitations only for defendants
who have been convicted by a first-instance court.
The Lower House next week is scheduled to vote on a proposal
presented by the center-right Forza Italia (FI) party to scrap a
reform drafted by Justice Minister Alfonso Bonafede, a member of
the 5-Star Movement (M5S), that puts the statute of limitations
on ice after a first-instance court ruling.
Renzi said Conte's proposal is "unconstitutional".
Meanwhile on Wednesday the president of magistrates' union
ANM, Luca Poniz, told state broadcaster RAI's Radio Ach'io
program that he considered the controversy over Conte's proposal
on the statute of limitations "a pretext".
"Distinguishing between the position of someone who has been
convicted and acquitted is extremely wise", he said.
"I don't understand why it should be unconstitutional".
Renzi's government partners, the M5S and his former
Democratic Party (PD) fear he could break ranks and vote with
the conservative opposition over the justice reform.
The aim of Bonafede's reform is to stop offenders getting
off thanks to their lawyers' ability to draw out proceedings
until the statute of limitations kicks in.
But the center-right and IV say that there is a risk of
people getting embroiled in never-ending trials and the slow
pace of Italy's justice system getting worse.
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