If psycho-aptitude tests are to be introduced they should apply not just to magistrates but to all top public officials and those in positions of government, Naples Chief Prosecutor NicolaGratteri said on Wednesday.
"If we want to do psycho-aptitude tests, they should be done for all the top sectors of the public administration, for those with government responsibilities and for those involved in the management of public affairs," said Gratteri on the sidelines of a press conference after the cabinet on Tuesday approved the controversial introduction of psycho-aptitude tests for aspiring magistrates.
By the same token, the Naples prosecutor said all those in top public positions and government should be made to take drug and alcohol tests because these substances can "not only alter their reasoning but also make them blackmailable".
The president of magistrates union ANM Giuseppe Santalucia on Tuesday described the introduction of psycho-aptitude tests formagistrates as a "symbolic norm" aiming to insinuate that administrators of justice need to be checked psychologically.
"It is an irrational norm that will come into force in 2026," Santalucia continued, adding that there is "room to convince" and eliminate it.
However, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio defended the decision to introduce the tests, insisting that there is no "encroachment"or "interference" by the government on the judiciary and sayingthere is "nothing wrong" with "people like doctors who have responsibility for others' lives trying to understand how they function and maybe correct themselves".
Nordio also said in the event of failure of the psycho-aptitudetests prospective magistrates can sit the examination to enter the judiciary up to four times.
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