Referendum on justice, there are five questions put forward by the Radicals and the League, which will be voted on Sunday 12 June. From the Severino law to pre-trial detention, from the separation of functions between judges and prosecutors to the participation of lawyers and academics in the evaluation of judges. The last question is the collection of signatures to apply for the CSM.
Referendum on justice
Next Sunday the Italians are called to express themselves on 5 questions in matter of justice, presented by the League and the Radicals and declared admissible by the Council. A vote on which the unknown quorum weighs. In fact, since it is an abrogative referendum, half plus one of those entitled must go to the polls to be valid. Who vote YES intends to repeal current legislation, who vote NO maintains the regulatory framework subject to the referendum unaltered.
Each voter, in possession of a valid identity document, will be able to vote in his / her own polling station, indicated on the personal electoral card. The greenpass to access the seats but the anti-Covid mask is required. Voters who have turned 12 on Sunday 18 June can vote in popular referendums. Voting is only on Sunday, from 7 to 23.
The questions
Incandidability and forfeiture. The referendum number 1, marked with the red tab, it concerns the repeal of the Consolidated Law on the provisions on the subject of non-compliance and the prohibition on holding elected and government offices. Prohibition resulting from definitive sentences for non-culpable crimes. In essence, he asked the voters if they intend to eliminate the provisions introduced in 2012, with the law promoted by the then Minister of Justice Paola Severino. Provisions that provide for the unlawfulness, ineligibility and automatic forfeiture of those who have been definitively convicted for certain types of crime, from the mafia to terrorism to those against the public administration.
Pre-trial detention. Question number 2 (orange card) intervenes on the limitation of precautionary measures, with the repeal of the last sentence of art. 274, paragraph 1, letter c) of the criminal procedure code, regarding precautionary measures and precautionary needs, in a criminal trial. At present, preventive detention can be ordered in cases where a possible risk of contamination of evidence in an investigation, of escape of those under investigation and the "concrete and current danger" of repetition of the crime is identified. The referendum question proposed intervenes on the latter aspect, asking to limit the cases in which the precautionary measure can be ordered due to the risk of recurrence.
Voting takes place only on Sunday 12 June from 7am to 23pm
Career separation. With yellow card (referendum number 3) the voters are called to express their opinion on the separation of the functions of the magistrates. The question calls for the repeal of the rules on the judiciary which allow a magistrate to pass from the functions of public prosecutor to those of judge, and vice versa.
At the moment there are four possible changes of function during the career span. The reform of the Minister of Justice Marta Cartabia under consideration by Parliament also intervenes on the matter, reducing the career transition to only one, within 10 years of the first assignment. The referendum aims to make the choice final. If the Yes passes, the magistrate will have to choose the judging or prosecuting function at the beginning of his career. This, to then maintain that role throughout his career, with the aim of clearly distinguishing those who judge from those who accuse.
Referendum on justice, Italians at the polls
Judge evaluation. With the gray card (referendum no. 4) are called upon to comment on the judges' evaluation system. A prerogative reserved to the CSM, which also decides on the basis of evaluations expressed by the judicial councils at the territorial level. The question concerns the “participation of lay members in all the deliberations of the Governing Council of the Court of Cassation and of the judicial councils. Abrogation of rules on the composition of the Governing Council of the Court of Cassation and of the judicial councils and of the competences of the lay members who are part of it ". In essence, the Yes aims to allow the vote of the laity, lawyers and professors, who sit on the judicial councils also on these deliberations. This is in order to obtain more objective judgments on the work of the judges.
Signatures for the CSM. The referendum number 5 (green card) intervenes on the mechanism for selecting the candidate magistrates in the elections of the CSM. The question concerns the "repeal of rules on elections for the professional members of the Higher Council of the Judiciary". He proposes to cancel the rule which establishes that each candidacy for the election of the professional members of the Superior Council of the Judiciary is supported by a minimum of 25 and a maximum of 50 presenters. The same mechanism is also provided for by the CSM reform proposed by the Minister of Justice. The objective of the referendums is to arrive at individual candidacies of the judges, without the preventive support of other colleagues. This is in an attempt to limit the weight of the currents, after the storm on the appointments to the CSM that was unleashed in the spring of 2019.
