ROME: Italy's constitutional court ruled Thursday that a law which has protected Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from prosecution for corruption and tax fraud was invalid in key points and judges could order him to stand trial. The court said in a brief statement that elements of the law, which allowed cabinet ministers including Berlusconi to claim exemption from trial because their official duties prevented attendance, violated the constitution. The ruling by the 15-member court is a further blow to the 74-year-old premier, who is battling to shore up his fragile center-right government after scraping through a no-confidence vote last month. The court struck down the blanket exemption offered by the so-called “legitimate impediment” law and ruled that it would be up to individual trial judges to decide on a case-by-case basis whether ministers would have to face prosecution. “Basically the court has completely rejected the argument of the government and the premier's advisers,” Felice Casson, a former judge who is now a senator for the opposition Democratic Party said in a statement. The ruling had been sought by judges in Milan, where Berlusconi faces three trials over alleged offences connected with his Mediaset broadcasting empire. He is accused of bribing his lawyer David Mills to give false testimony and also faces charges of embezzlement and tax fraud in connection with the sale of television rights. Whether the premier, who rejects the accusations, will come before the judges is uncertain, however, given the possibility that proceedings may be delayed until the statute of limitations means the cases are shelved because the charges go back too far. But with his government clinging on to power after a split with former ally Gianfranco Fini last year, the blow to Berlusconi has added to widespread expectations that Italy could be heading for new elections, possibly in the coming months. Berlusconi, the billionaire owner of Italy's biggest private broadcaster, has been in conflict with judges since he launched his political career in 1994 and he says he has faced more than 100 different court cases. Following the decision, his office issued a curt statement, saying Berlusconi would not comment on the ruling, although he is expected to speak on television Friday morning.
