Premier Giorgia Meloni has agreed to meet the new head of the magistrates’ union, ANM, amid a dispute over justice reform and other political-judicial issues.
Meloni, leader of the right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI), accepted a meeting request from Cesare Parodi, the newly elected ANM head. Parodi belongs to Magistratura Indipendente, a right-wing faction in Italy’s politicised judiciary.
Parodi confirmed that magistrates will strike on 27 February against the government’s plan to separate the career paths of judges and prosecutors. The reform would prevent magistrates from switching between the two roles.
The ANM and opposition politicians argue the plan could eventually place prosecutors under government control, weakening Italy’s balance of powers. Justice Minister Carlo Nordio has repeatedly rejected this claim.
Parodi said on Sunday the ANM would meet Meloni over the reform but would not compromise. He described the meeting as an opportunity to “explain our arguments again with clarity, firmness, and lucidity, without giving any ground.”
One of Parodi’s first moves after his election on Saturday was to confirm the ANM strike against Nordio’s reform. The justice minister insists the reform, which requires constitutional changes and a referendum after parliamentary approval, will strengthen judicial impartiality. Nordio denied ANM’s claim that the plan seeks to place prosecutors under government control.
Meanwhile, centre-right members of the Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM) have requested the transfer of Rome prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi. They cited “environmental incompatibility” over a case involving an external secret service document on Meloni’s Chief of Staff, Gaetano Caputi. The left-wing daily Domani published the document after it was sent to Rome prosecutors.
