The former undersecretary for justice and former leader of the Independent Judiciary Cosimo Ferri, former parliamentarian of the dem and then of Italia Viva, was acquitted by the CSM in the disciplinary process in which he had to answer for "seriously incorrect behavior" for the meeting of 9 May 2019 at the Champagne hotel, with the former prosecutor Luca Palamara, Luca Lotti and five councilors of the CSM in office at the time, a meeting during which the appointment of the Rome Prosecutor was discussed.
The Chamber twice, even after the intervention of the Consulta, denied the use of the interceptions of Ferri, at the time of the facts a member of the Democratic Party like Lotti, and since it was the only evidence, the disciplinary section - which did not raise a new attribution conflict - decided for acquittal.
The matter could reopen only if the General Prosecutor's Office of the Supreme Court decided to challenge the CSM's decision, before the United Sections of the Supreme Court, with reference to the failure to raise the conflict of attribution.
Meanwhile, Ferri, who has been removed from his role and is seconded to the Ministry of Justice as a result of the Cartabia reform which introduced a 'pause' period for those who return to political service, has avoided disciplinary sanctions and also the risk of being removed from the judiciary as happened to Luca Palamara, on whose cell phone the trojan that captured the 'carbonari' conversations at the Champagne hotel had been inoculated.
Ferri wanted to return to the judiciary immediately, but his request was rejected by the CSM precisely in light of the Cartabia reform, which came into force on 21 June 2021, seven days before Ferri was proclaimed among the elected councilors of the Municipality of Carrara.
The reform provides that at the end of the mandate of parliamentarian, council president, mayor, regional and municipal councilor, the magistrate, after his stint in politics, will be removed from his role.
Last July 20, the Constitutional Court was of the opinion that the use of Ferri's wiretaps did not require prior authorization, as claimed by the Chamber of Deputies, since it did not appear that the investigative activity "was univocally aimed at intercepting also the communications of the Hon. Ferri".
The Council had therefore sent back to the Chamber the request for authorization made by the Disciplinary Section of the CSM for "a new evaluation" of the existence of the conditions for using wiretaps.
But the Authorizations Council, chaired by Action MP Enrico Costa, rejected the request to use them on 25 October.
And the Chamber of Deputies, on December 19, confirmed the 'no' of the Authorizations Committee.
The votes in favor were 172, 69 against, 11 abstentions. The deputies of the majority, IV and Action were against.
Avs abstained.
Pd and M5S were in favor.
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