British lawyers fight to lift ban on Berlusconi from public office

LAWYERS from Amal Clooney’s chambers are fighting to have Silvio Berlusconi’s ban on holding public office overturned to enable him to stand as prime minister of Italy again.

The lawyers could be instrumental in engineering the return of the disgraced politician, infamous for his “bunga bunga” sex parties, tax fraud convictions and alleged mafia links.

Despite his many travails, a centreright coalition headed by 81-year-old Mr Berlusconi won regional elections in Sicily earlier this month and could reclaim power at the next general election.

Three experts in international human rights law from Doughty Street Chambers in London will appear before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg next week to argue that his ban should be lifted. Mr Berlusconi was convicted of tax fraud in 2012. He was sentenced to four years in jail, later commuted to a year of community service. A law passed after his conviction prevents anyone jailed for more than two years from holding public office for at least six years. His lawyers will argue that Italy violated European legislation by applying the law retroactively, imposing a harsher penalty than was applicable at the time that the crimes were committed.

“The decision to strip Mr Berlusconi was taken by parliament,” the lawyers’ case states. “The process was governed by no accessible criteria and as a result was open to political manipulation and abuse. In Mr Berlusconi’s case, it seems clear that such political manipulation dictated the result.”

While Mrs Clooney is the chambers’ most high-profile lawyer, she is not personally involved in the case.