Tricolour Cockade and Charter, the Magistrates Challenge the Government

With tricolor cockades on their robes and a copy of the Constitution in their hands, they will explain to citizens the reasons for their no to the reform on the separation of careers that, after approval in the first reading in the Chamber, is now being examined by the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Senate. From north to south, magistrates will cross their arms on Thursday for a strike "in defense of the Constitution".

A mobilization called in December by the ANM and which, explained the new general secretary Rocco Maruotti, is not limited to being a day of abstention from work, but of "meeting with the citizens".

There are many initiatives and events in various Italian cities, with the highlight scheduled in Rome starting at 10am.

First, a flash mob on the steps of the Court of Cassation, with the magistrates wearing a tricolor cockade on their robes and holding a copy of the Charter. Afterwards, the prosecutors and judges will move to a room in the Adriano cinema, right in front of the Court building, where the public meeting open to civil society will be held, with the leaders of the ANM, magistrates and citizens. Speeches are expected from the president of the Association Cesare Parodi, the secretary Rocco Maruotti and the vice president Marcello De Chiara. Guests include the writer Gianrico Carofiglio and the former president of the ANM Giuseppe Santalucia. In Milan, a flash mob is also planned in front of the Palace of Justice, followed by an assembly in the Aula Magna, while in Genoa, the participation of, among others, Antonio Albanese is expected, who will read a text by Piero Calamandrei. In Naples, instead, the meeting will take place at the Tartaglione library of the Palace of Justice. The writers Maurizio De Giovanni and Viola Ardone are expected. In some cities, events have been organized with high school and university students.

A large-scale mobilization that cannot fail to rekindle the conflict with the government majority and that comes less than a week after the meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, scheduled for March 5 and currently still confirmed. An appointment defined by the secretary of the national association of magistrates, "an opportunity for discussion to try to explain once again our reasons with respect to the objections we raise about the reform and also to make it clearer that we are not enemies of the nation but people who carry out a delicate function which is to guarantee the rights of citizens". Maruotti also reiterates that the separation of careers "does not affect the status of magistrates but aims to rewrite a part of the Constitutional Charter and it is being done - he underlines - in a way that is not entirely acceptable. In the Chamber of Deputies, in the first reading, they went ahead with an armored text. We think that the changes to the Constitution would at least require greater discussion and listening".

Words sent back to the sender by the government with the Undersecretary of Justice Andrea Delmastro: "We would have been pleased to make the constitutional reforms involving all categories, I believe that we have requested them and I believe that they have not always accepted our request". And then he assures: "There is no punitive intervention against the judiciary, no spirit of revenge" and the accusation of wanting to submit the PM to the executive is "definitely instrumental".