Italy reaches deal on trial time constraints

CRUCIAL DECISION: Under the terms of accord reached at a meeting with key officials, the statute will be relaxed this year

ROME: Italy’s ruling coalition reached a deal on Thursday over removing time constraints on the prosecution of numerous crimes, including corruption, defusing a row that had threatened the stability of the government.

The dispute over the so-called statute of limitations was the most serious so far to rattle the coalition, which took office in June promising to bring radical change to Italy.

Time limits for prosecutions has been at the centre of fierce political debate for years, with magistrates saying it is all but impossible to reach a definitive verdict for a multitude of financial crimes within the prescribed time frame.

The ruling 5-Star Movement, which has made battling graft a priority, wants to remove many of the limits as soon as possible. Its coalition partner, the League, has previously resisted change, saying it would leave too many defendants facing years of legal uncertainty.

Under the terms of Thursday’s accord, reached at an early morning meeting of key government figures, the statute will be relaxed by parliament this year but the change will only come into force in 2020

Every case that is curtailed is justice denied. Now, finally this is coming to end 5-Star leader

when a broad legal reform is enacted.

“The statute of limitations is a bitter poison to swallow. Every case that is curtailed is justice denied. Now, finally this is coming to end,” 5-Star leader Luigi Di Maio wrote on Facebook.

In a newspaper interview published earlier on Thursday, Di Maio had warned the coalition would collapse if the League had refused to endorse the overhaul of time restrictions.

Italy’s justice system has long been one of the most dysfunctional in Europe, with a backlog of an estimated eight million cases gumming up the law courts.

According to the latest data available, some 145,637 cases fell by the wayside in 2016 after hitting the time out.

One notable beneficiary of the statute of limitations has been former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has seen more than 10 trials against him collapse because of time constraints, most recently in July when a three-year prison term for bribing a senator was swept away.