The justice referendums, an opportunity for a guaranteed turning point: information responsibilities
Five out of six referendum questions on justice admitted by the Council. It sounds like a victory for the Lega and the Radical Party, which together promoted them. Referendums that will be held in the spring and that will not have the "popular push" of ethical issues (euthanasia and cannabis), rejected by the Court, chaired by the newly elected president Giuliano Amato.
The questions passed on the modalities for the election of the CSM, on the fair evaluation of the judges, with which the "lay members" (lawyers and professors) of the Judicial Councils would also be allowed to vote on the work of the magistrates, on the separation of functions, according to which the magistrates will have to choose, immediately, between judging or prosecuting function. If they can now change roles for a maximum of two times, with a yes victory, the decision will have to be made at the beginning of their career. The question on the limitation of pre-trial detention (pre-trial detention would remain for the most serious crimes) and the one on the abolition of the Severino Law, a legislative decree that takes its name from the signatory, the former Minister of Justice Paola, also received the green light. Severino, and which provides for the incapacity as well as the ineligibility, in the event of a first-degree conviction, of parliamentarians, regional councilors, local administrators and mayors.
The indirect civil liability of magistrates remains untouchable. Citizens hit by non-existent accusations or who unfortunately ends up in prison despite being innocent will have to refer generically to the State which should then, very theoretically, refer to the individual magistrate.
The issue of justice, discussed several times in Italy, has become difficult for both politics and public opinion, but by now the vast majority of Italian citizens express themselves unequivocally. A change of opinion towards the judiciary is obvious: while in 2010 68 per cent of Italians expressed themselves positively, today only one in three Italians (32 per cent) declares to have faith in the judiciary. A drastic drop, if we consider the short time in which it occurred, just over 10 years.
As if that weren't enough, the latest justice reform (Cartabia reform) was followed by only 28 percent of public opinion and deepened by an even lower share (7 percent).
These data, in addition to highlighting a historical problem of our country, highlight all the shortcomings of our information regarding the relationship between politics and justice.
For two years we have witnessed, every single day, a nagging information and media campaign on Covid-19 and related health issues. Now, we should expect the same treatment for political, ethical, judicial issues and why not, on the spring round of referendums. What is missing is a bold information campaign. A broad and neutral window of study aimed not at cheering for yes or no, but which has the main task of informing Italian citizens and encouraging the achievement of the quorum. To form, this is the first meaning, in Latin, of informing. This is the goal. To shape a solid information campaign that should, for once, overcome party divisions. Shaping an unrepeatable opportunity for our country. The opportunity to impose a guaranteed turnaround on our judicial system and at the same time respond positively to the will of citizens by following what, to date, is the instrument of direct democracy par excellence: the abrogative referendum.
On the contrary, the political and social implications of a failure to reach the quorum would have a diametrically opposite impact: crystallize a long-standing problem, de-legitimize the referendum initiative and, consequently, the popular will, and ultimately deliver yet another "victory" to the justicialist party. Borrowing the title of a famous painting by Francisco Goya, “The sleep of reason generates monsters” , we can say that the risk we face is similar. In this case, it would not be human reason to sleep, but Italian information. The sleep of information, for its part, would have the novelty of generating very specific monsters. Immobility is one of them. A constant in our country, that of weakening the forces for change and resisting the modification of consolidated powers. Especially if the Italian judiciary is the loser.
The post I referendum justice, an opportunity for a guaranteed turning point: the responsibility of information appeared first on Atlantico Quotidiano .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL https://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/quotidiano/i-referendum-giustizia-occasione-per-una-svolta-garantista-le-responsabilita-dellinformazione/ on Mon, 28 Feb 2022 03:46:00 +0000.