Italians begin voting in high-stakes justice referendum

By Angelo Amante

ROME, March 22 (Reuters) – Italians began voting on Sunday in a referendum to confirm a contested judicial reform put forward by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a key test for her right-wing coalition ahead of a general election due next year.

Voters must decide whether to back constitutional changes to separate the career paths of judges and public prosecutors — an issue that has long roiled domestic politics — and split Italy’s judicial self-governing body into two separate entities.

The vote comes at the end of a heated campaign which pitted the Meloni-led ‘yes’ camp against centre-left opponents supporting the ‘no’. Polls close at 3 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Monday.

The opposition, led by the Democratic Party and the 5-Star Movement, has warned that the reform would undermine judicial independence and leave room for political interference, saying that would allow Meloni to tighten her grip on power.

The government rejects the criticism, arguing that reform is needed to curb the politicised election of members at the self-ruling High Council of the Judiciary (CSM), after ​scandals exposed backroom deals over senior prosecutor appointments.

Analysts say Meloni would likely receive a major boost from a ‘yes’ win, as she grapples with the fallout from the Iran war and a stagnant economy near the end of her mandate.

A win for the centre-left — still trailing Meloni’s bloc in opinion polls — would strengthen its efforts to build an alliance capable of challenging the prime minister.

Polls published before a two-week pre-ballot blackout took effect showed the two camps neck-and-neck, amid suggestions that Meloni supporters may stay home as they were seen as relatively disengaged on the highly complex issue.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Crispian Balmer)