New immunity for Berlusconi

Posted By Peter Williams Thursday, March 11, 2010 - 4:25 PM Share

Looks like Silvio Berlusconi's off the hook again. The upper chamber of the Italian Parliament passed a new law today allowing the prime minister  to excuse himself from attending court hearings on the grounds that his day-to-day obligations as premier constitute a "legitimate impediment" to doing so. The law will allow Berlusconi to suspend all pending court hearings for up to 18 months. As Nick Squires of the Telegraph observes, assuming Berlusconi isn't unexpectedly ousted, 18 months should be sufficiently long enough for him to ride out the statute of limitations on his current charges.  

Lauding Parliament's decision, Maurizio Gasparri, a senator from Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PdL) party, declared that the new law would "balance the relationship between the executive and judiciary" branches of government.

If you find that line tough to swallow, I suggest reading Portuguese novelist and Nobel Prize winner José Saramago's blistering attack on Berlusconi, which was originally published as an editorial titled "The Berlusconi Thing" in the Spanish newspaper El Pais (English translation available here).

ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images

EXPLORE:EUROPE, CORRUPTION
 

ALEPUZIO

7:07 AM ET

March 12, 2010

And the France?

Saramago identify Berlusconi with delinquency after 15 years of process.

The law solve the problem of the superiority of judiciary system over the executive gouverment. In France it exists a similar law (Chirac NOW has a judiciary proceeding for corruption when he was Mayor in Paris, year 1977-1995).

The problem is: Can absolutely the process for to respect the law have effects in gouvernement?

The France says NO, the Italy now says NO (and the Italian gouvernment has'nt direct control over the judiciary system): for Saramago the Italy/Berlusconi show the bad example of civil and political morality.

I dont' see neither the grandeur of Nobel nor a descendent of Emile Zola in this occasion.

 

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