Meloni faces 'invincibility' test with justice referendum

FE Team | Published: March 14, 2026 21:37:42

ROME, Mar 14 (AFP): Italians vote next week on a highly divisive judicial reform that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says is essential for impartiality, but which opponents condemn as a power grab.
The referendum comes amid an ongoing struggle between Meloni's hard-right government and magistrates, who claim the proposed changes will compromise their independence.
The reform would separate the functions of prosecutor and judge-both currently considered magistrates with shared career paths-while also changing their oversight body.
The outcome of the constitutional referendum, to be voted on March 22 and 23, is uncertain.
Recent polls indicate a slight lead for the "No" camp, with the opposition presenting the poll as a chance to vote against Meloni's government.
A failure to pass the referendum would be a blow for Meloni, who has led an uncharacteristically stable coalition government since October 2022. But she has dismissed suggestions that she might quit if she loses.
At a rally on Thursday in Milan, Meloni described the change as a "historic reform that addresses the root causes of the dysfunctional justice system". Late conservative prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was famous for his battles with the judiciary, who he accused of being left-wing.
Meloni and her ministers have also not shied away from attacking rulings they claim are too lenient, particularly on the issue of immigration.
Judges have fought back, with more than 80 percent of members of Italy's National Magistrates Association participating in a one-day strike in February 2025 against the reform.
In a public spat last month, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio-who had called criticism from judges "petulant litanies"-said the reform would correct a "para-Mafia mechanism" within the judiciary.
Currently, judges or public prosecutors can move between one function or other, although only a tiny minority do so. Since 2022, they have only been allowed to change once.
While many consider the structure a bulwark against political interference in the work of magistrates, pro-reform campaigners say too-cosy relations between prosecutors and judges harm the defendant.
"If the person who accuses you and the person who judges you are two co-workers who life paths continually intersect, there is a risk of confusion that could weaken a key principle of the Italian constitution-the impartiality of judges," Meloni said.