Inconstituzionale

19 January 2004


Berlusconi Trial Back on Track

Italy's constitutional court has thrown out a law passed back in June that made the holders of five top offices immune from prosecution. That means that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's corruption trial in Milan can get back on track. The law was not necessarily a bad one, but it clearly was meant to excuse Mr. Berlusconi from facing possible punishment.

Prior to becoming prime minister, Mr. Berlusconi was a businessman, a very successful and wealthy business man (current estimates of his fortune put him in the multi-billionaire category, euros as well as dollars, making him the richest Italian). The trial stems from an alleged bribe he allegedly gave a judge to allegedly stop a rival firm from taking over SME, the state-owned food conglomerate, in 1985. This is not a question of hanky-panky with an intern; this is a very serious charge.

As the trial dragged on in Milan (and the wheels of Milanese justice did grind slowly), Mr. Berlusconi was faced with the possibility of Italy taking over the presidency of last July while he was on trial. So, he rammed through in a mere 3 weeks (the Italian parliament's version of the speed of light) a law that provided immunity from prosecution for the prime minister, the head of state, the heads of both chambers of parliament and chief judge of the constitutional court. He was the only one on trial at the time. Best of all, his term ends after the statute of limitations expires, so the law was essentially a pardon.

As a practical matter, there is nothing wrong with the idea of immunity from prosecution for various government officials per se. The trouble arises when they have no responsibility for their actions at all. That is what Mr. Berlusconi sought and what the Italian constitutional court threw out.

So, it is back to trial for the Italian prime minister. Guilty or innocent the important thing is that he should be bound by the laws under which he was elected. For the sake of the Italian people and the office of prime minister, one hopes he is innocent and proven such. In any case, however, it is for the court to decide, not for Mr. Berlusconi operating through his parliament. Italy got over that sort of behavior in the 1940s.

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