For the Cartabia reform of the CSM the road is getting more and more uphill. The meeting of the Keeper of the Seals with the majority in the Chamber, to unravel the knots, was resolved with the acknowledgment of the distances present and the decision to postpone the arrival of the reform in the Chamber by two weeks. In the same minutes, an opinion came from the High Council of the Judiciary that rejected the text, even with an alarm on the independence of the magistrates.
The meeting with the majority group leaders
At Montecitorio, the Minister met for the first time the majority group leaders in the Justice Commission, for a discussion on the 250 amendments deposited on his reform, which was in turn expected by the deputies since last October but only reached the Chamber three weeks ago. It was only possible to take note of the distances on some (few) nodes, which however represent essential points of the provision: the electoral law of the CSM, the revolving doors, the separation of duties and the evaluation of magistrates. Points on which all the center-right but also Enrico Costa di Action are asking for important changes; even M5s has different ideas from the Keeper of Seals for example on revolving doors. The only Pd remained to act as cuirassier in Cartabia, who with Franco Vazio underlined that the reform passed through the Council of Ministers and therefore cannot be overturned.
The arrival of the reform in the classroom has been postponed to the Chamber
Thursday 24 March there will be a new meeting to find at least the first agreements. In the meantime, the Justice Commission has asked for another two weeks to examine the text, which will no longer arrive in the Chamber on 29 March but on 11 April.
The rejection of the reform by the CSM
While Cartabia was meeting with the majority, at Palazzo dei Marescialli the CSM approved an opinion on the reform in which it rejects the electoral system envisaged by the Minister, as well as other rules concerning the disciplinary action of the Ministry against magistrates, revolving doors, evaluation of the magistrates for the progression of the careers (it does not like that the lawyers can vote in the judicial councils to put the votes to the magistrates). A split in the Council between togates and laity should be noted, with the latter voting against or abstaining on various points. The uncertainty remains about the timing of approval of the reform, which should become law by May in order to be applied for the next election of the CSM in June-July. Hence the request of Federico Conte (Leu) to involve the senators in the meetings to ensure that the Senate approves the text of the Chamber without changes.