The Italian Senate on Tuesday approved a controversial reform to streamline the judiciary, scorned by magistrates as an attack on their independence and vetoed by the president last year, Reuters reported. The successful 146-106 vote, with one abstention, sends Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's legislation to Italy's lower chamber of parliament for further debate. The Senate approval came six months after Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi vetoed the original measure, calling elements of the bill "clearly unconstitutional". Revisions to the legislation removed a passage that called for a special office to monitor outcomes of court cases. It also greatly limited powers to the Justice Ministry to appeal decisions taken by the high council of magistrates. But Italy's magistrates say the changes are insignificant. They voted on Saturday to hold a one-day strike in July to protest a reform they fear could muzzle judges and magistrates. "If the lower chamber of parliament passes the text approved by the Senate, it will be approving a law that does not answer the call of the president, and is against the constitution," said Carlo Fucci, the magistrate association's vice president. --More 2246 Local Time 1946 GMT
