The ANM is funding the ‘red robes’ attack on the School of Magistrates

A battle is now raging between the various factions within the High School of the Judiciary, the presidency of which passed into the hands of the ‘conservative’ Mauro Paladini last March, following years of dominance by left-wing factions. The ‘red robes’ are not having any of it and have now even lodged an appeal with the Regional Administrative Court against the School, citing a lack of transparency. The ANM, in an unprecedented move, has decided to contribute financially to the appeal.

The Higher School of the Judiciary (SSM) is the training centre for magistrates, particularly young magistrates who have just passed the competitive examination. Like the CSM, it has always been a battleground for factional rivalries within the judiciary, to the extent that, in the view of several magistrates, it effectively serves more as a centre for the ‘indoctrination’ of new magistrates.

After dominating the School for years, last March the left-wing factions lost control of the institution’s governing board. Silvana Sciarra, former president of the Constitutional Court (elected as a PD representative), was not reappointed as head of the SSM halfway through her term and consequently resigned from the governing board. Mauro Paladini, a lecturer in private law at the University of Milan-Bicocca, was elected in her place. He holds conservative views and is considered close to the Under-Secretary to the Prime Minister, Alfredo Mantovano. Following this setback, the left-wing factions lost their composure. Thus, they suddenly began to denounce the lack of transparency in the SSM’s activities.

A number of magistrates belonging to left-wing factions (Area and Magistratura Democratica) have launched a petition amongst their colleagues to request access to the SSM’s minutes, calling for “the release of all minutes relating to the procedure for renewing the SSM president’s term of office”, and invoking compliance with an internal resolution which, throughout the School’s years under ‘red leadership’, has never been observed. In short, this has nothing to do with a love of transparency: the complaint by the left-wing magistrates is merely a desperate attempt to challenge the loss of their hegemony within the School, by casting doubt on alleged opaque manoeuvres behind Paladini’s appointment.

The School responded to the request by publishing the minutes of the presidential election meeting, but with a number of omissions, due to the need to comply with data protection regulations regarding the individuals involved. The outcome did not satisfy the left-wing judges, who consequently escalated the dispute by lodging an appeal with the Regional Administrative Court to secure full disclosure of the minutes of the School’s executive committee. In recent days, yet another twist has emerged: the executive committee of the National Magistrates’ Association (ANM) has decided, in the utmost secrecy, to join the initiative led by this group of dissident magistrates, guaranteeing partial coverage of the costs of the legal proceedings. The decision was taken unanimously, thus also receiving a surprise green light from the ANM’s president, Giuseppe Tango, a member of the conservative faction ‘Magistratura Indipendente’ (MI).

When the news spread amongst the magistrates, chaos ensued. Over 200 magistrates have signed a petition “in support of pluralism and academic freedom at the Higher School of the Judiciary”, which highlights “unjustified hostility and a climate of substantial delegitimisation towards President Mauro Paladini”, and describes the council’s decision to provide financial support for the appeal to the Regional Administrative Court as “inappropriate and ill-advised”. The petition was signed mainly by judges belonging to Magistratura Indipendente, who were furious at Tango’s decision to directly involve the ANM in the appeal to the Regional Administrative Court.

However, many magistrates who are not members of Mi also disapproved of the executive committee’s decision, which was taken without consulting the central steering committee. “A blatant violation of statutory and ethical rules,” stated Cristina Carunchio and Andrea Reale, members of the ANM executive committee, also emphasising that the initiative to fund the appeal to the Regional Administrative Court is “a harbinger of serious tensions with an institution that is fundamental to the Italian judiciary”. The battle rages on, amid paradoxes and hypocrisy.