Punti di vista

Italy is right to curb its judges

By Christopher Caldweill

Published: June 21 2008 03:00 | Last updated: June 21 2008 03:00

"The purpose of immunity is not to give elected officials a free ride. It is to protect the right of electorates to be ruled by the person they chose democratically. Do the charges against Mr Berlusconi arise from a disinterested quest for justice or from a desire on the part of a certain branch of the Italian elite to overturn a popular choice they do not like? Such questions can almost never be answered to the public's satisfaction. In the US in the 1990s, President Bill Clinton was subjected to one investigation after another. It turned out to be just as important that the judiciary be above the taint of politics as that politicians be above the taint of corruption. Immunity might be the best way to protect the democratic elements of democratic government - especially in a country where the judiciary is highly politicised. The US remains such a country. So does Italy, where, for a decade and a half, judges have enjoyed a degree of power unique in the west. ... Such power is, over the long haul, unhealthy for a democracy.

"Mr Berlusconi's judicial stunts are invariably self-serving, but they are never only self-serving. They always address some genuine problem severe enough to rally voters behind him. Therein lies his political genius. Italy is in a panic about crime right now. That panic might be well founded, or it might not be. But almost everything in his security law will help allay it. An immunity law, should one be drafted, might make Italian politics less litigious and more democratic. The fact that Mr Berlusconi could dodge a trial through these laws is a reason to oppose them. But it is the only reason to oppose them, and it is not a sufficient one".

Prima di annettere il FT alla schiera degli ammiratori di Berlusconi, però, vale la pena di leggere quest'altro articolo: Oh no, not again, del 25 giugno.

For Italy’s sake, things must improve from here. The country has one of the slowest growth rates in the eurozone. It needs serious, responsible government to turn the economy round. Mr Berlusconi said on Wednesday that Italy’s public prosecutors had subjected him to an endless “Calvary”. But the only Calvary being suffered in this story is the one endured by Italy, which needs a dramatic reversal in its political and economic fortunes.