Government, green light for psycho-aptitude tests for magistrates –

Green light from the Council of Ministers for the introduction of psycho-aptitude tests for access to the profession of magistrate. The ANM is on the barricades, the opposition goes on the attack but the Minister of Justice, Carlo Nordio, defends the measure. «It is not at all an invasion by the government of the judiciary. The entire procedure for this test is entrusted to the Superior Council of the Judiciary”, explains the Keeper of the Seals in a press conference at the end of today’s meeting. «The psycho-aptitude exam – he underlines – is foreseen for all the most important functions in the country, for doctors, for airline pilots, but above all it is foreseen for the police forces. The prosecutor is the head of the judicial police: is it possible not to subject the person in charge of the judicial police to the psycho-aptitude test?”. And again: «We have witnessed a controversy that I regret as a former magistrate. I even read that periodic tests of serving magistrates would be instituted. No, it only concerns entry into the judiciary. Therefore, everything we have heard about periodic evaluations of the psyche of magistrates are empty polemical abstractions.” The owner of Justice then specifies that the exam, which will be held after the written tests, does not concern the current competitions, but will come into force later. The person taking care of the psychoaptitude test – he underlines – will be «a professional, chosen from among various professionals who are university professors who hold courses in psychological subjects, therefore not amateurs. But the final evaluation is always left to the commission, which decides on the outcome of the written and oral tests. Therefore, speaking of interference or almost contempt for the independence of the judiciary is, in our opinion, absolutely inappropriate.” There is no shortage of criticism. The president of the National Association of Magistrates, Giuseppe Santalucia, does not send word to her: «More than a disaster, it is a symbolic rule beyond the detailed content. We know the draft was changed. The aim was to create a suggestion in public opinion: these magistrates need mental or psychiatric control. The test has been watered down, previously it was a third test whose contents were unknown, today it becomes an interview in the oral test.”

Even from the opposition comes a chorus of ‘no’ to the measure. «After the report cards, come the psycho-aptitude tests for magistrates. Thus they fulfill the dream first of Licio Gelli and then of Silvio Berlusconi and continue the action of delegitimization towards those who must fight criminals, organized crime and every form of malfeasance. A total reversal of roles. Italian magistrates are already constantly evaluated, these tests only respond to the desire of the Meloni government to discredit the judicial power”, blurt out the representatives of the 5 Star Movement in the Justice commissions of the Chamber and Senate. And for the Democratic Party, the group leader in the Justice Committee of the Chamber, Federico Gianassi, reports: «This measure was not contained in the scheme submitted to the Chambers and to the opinion of the CSM and this is very serious because a constitutional body is being bypassed. After all, the change is radical and brings with it many open and nebulous questions which it is essential to delve into: how will these tests be carried out, by whom and what will be investigated?”. The lay councilor of the CSM, Enrico Aimi, however, applauds the initiative. «The introduction of psycho-aptitude tests – he observes – for access to the judiciary should not be seen either as a punitive tool for magistrates, nor as a straitjacket for the judicial order, but as the recognition of the fundamental function that the judiciary practice. Positively evaluating the hypothesis of the introduction of similar tests is not a taboo if it is aimed at guaranteeing the entry into the judiciary of the highest professionals”.