Italy's referendum on judicial reform divides political camps

Italy's political establishment is engaged in competing campaigns over a judicial reform referendum scheduled for March 22 and 23, with Premier Giorgia Meloni backing the proposed changes and opposition figures mounting challenges to her arguments.

Meloni has published a video supporting the "yes" position on the referendum. In the video, she contends that the reform addresses longstanding inefficiencies in the Italian justice system and argues that judicial separation of careers will prevent judges from showing bias toward prosecutors. She also states that when magistrates make errors, "in most cases nothing happens," and frames the reform as a solution to systemic problems in judicial efficiency.

On Thursday, Fratelli d'Italia organized an event at the Teatro Franco Parenti in Milan titled "Una riforma che fa giustizia. Una giornata dedicata alla riforma che l'Italia aspettava da decenni" (A reform that delivers justice. A day dedicated to the reform Italy has awaited for decades). The event featured influencers, actors, right-wing journalists, legal experts, and victims of judicial miscarriage. Among the speakers was Maresciallo Luciano Masini, a carabinieri commander who in early 2025 shot and killed an immigrant who had stabbed multiple people; his case was closed on grounds of legitimate self-defense. Masini's actions inspired the "criminal shield" provision included in the Security Decree. Meloni is scheduled to close the event, marking what officials described as her first and possibly only public campaign rally before the referendum.

Opposition to the reform has coalesced around competing arguments. Matteo Renzi, leader of Italia Viva, responded to Meloni during parliamentary debate on the government's communications ahead of the European Council by citing lyrics from Sanremo 2026. Renzi said he understood Meloni's need to campaign but criticized her repeated attribution of all problems to judges as "jarring." He referenced the Sanremo song "Per sempre sì" and warned against what he called propagandistic campaigning, urging focus instead on serious problems affecting Italians.

Critics of the reform have also challenged Meloni's specific claims. Legal experts and journalists have disputed her assertion that the reform strengthens judicial independence, with some arguing it could enhance executive power over the judiciary. Leghist senator and lawyer Giulia Buongiorno previously stated that "only an ignorant person" could believe the reform solves judicial efficiency problems, pointing to official data contradicting such claims.

A separate event titled "Difesa della Costituzione e ricerca della verità: Perché votare NO al Referendum" (Defense of the Constitution and search for truth: Why vote NO on the Referendum) is being held at Teatro Garbatella in Rome. The event centers on the presentation of the book "Stragi d'Italia" by lawyer Luigi Li Gotti and journalist Saverio Lodato. Speakers include Nino Di Matteo, deputy national anti-mafia prosecutor and former CSM judicial council member; Roberto Scarpinato, former prosecutor general of Palermo and current senator; and Giulia Sarti, former president of the Chamber's Justice Commission. The discussion also addresses the "Almasri case." Giorgio Bongiovanni, director of ANTIMAFIADuemila, is moderating the event, with a video contribution from Salvatore Borsellino.

The referendum campaign continues with two weeks remaining before the vote.