DSunday 22 and Monday 23 March Italy returns to the polls to validate, or not, a profound reform of justice, or rather of the judicial system, desired by the Government and approved by Parliament, but not unanimously as required by law in the event of an amendment to the Constitution. Because of this the citizens will decide whether the reform will survive or not voting a referendum. At the center of the debate are complex issues ranging from separation of careers between judges and prosecutors And the birth of new control bodies for magistrates. The vote will take place over two days to encourage the greatest possible participation.
Justice referendum 2026: when and how to vote
Polling stations will be open on Sunday from 7am to 11pm and on Monday from 7am to 3pm. Counting will begin immediately after the polls close. A very important technical detail differentiates this vote from the referendums we have often been accustomed to: There is no quorum.
Unlike repealing referendums, those which serve to cancel an existing law, for which 50% plus one of those entitled to vote must vote, the confirmatory referendum is valid regardless of the turnout. It will therefore be the majority of votes cast, YES versus NO, that will decide whether the reform will definitively come into force or whether it will be rejected.
The separation of careers between judges and prosecutors
The heart of the reform concerns the structure of the judiciary itself. Today, in Italy, a magistrate can pass during his professional life from the role of public prosecutorthe magistrate who conducts the investigation and supports the prosecution, to that of judge, the judging magistrate, the one who must decide impartially between the prosecution and the defence.
The reform proposes the separation of the two careers: anyone who chooses to be a public prosecutor will no longer be able to become a judge, and vice versa. The aim declared by supporters is to ensure that there is no excessive closeness between those who accuse and those who judge. On the contrary, Critics fear this could isolate prosecutors, over time bringing them under the influence of political power.
Posters for the Justice referendum of 22 and 23 March in Milan. (Handle)
A new face for the CSM, the governing body of the judiciary
As a result of the separation of careers, the reform would change radically also the CSM, the Superior Council of the Judiciarythe “self-governing” body of magistrates which deals with hiring, transfers, promotions and disciplinary measures. With the reform, the CSM splits into two distinct bodies: one dedicated exclusively to judges and one to prosecutors. Everyone will manage the professional life of their category, with the aim of preventing decisions on the judges’ careers from being influenced by the prosecuting magistrates and vice versa.
The choice of members of the CSM by drawing lots
One of the most discussed innovations concerns the method of selecting the members of the two new councils. To limit the weight of the “currents”, the Government reform introduces the principle of drawing lots. The mechanism, however, does not work in the same way for all members of the two new councils, but follows two distinct paths. For professional members, i.e. magistrates who will be part of the governing body, the names would be drawn directly from the entire body of the judiciary, which has around nine thousand to ten thousand professionals throughout Italy.
For lay members, that is, those chosen by Parliament between university professors and lawyers, the draw does not take place on the entire population of jurists, but on a limited list of names selected in advance by the political forces. In this case, Parliament identifies a shortlist of qualified experts and, only subsequently, fate decides who among these will actually become part of the Council.
The establishment of the High Disciplinary Court
Another relevant novelty is the creation of a High Disciplinary Court. Currently, a special section of the CSM decides on the sanctions to be inflicted on magistrates who commit errors or professional offences. The reform instead proposes an external and independent courtspecifically charged with assessing abuse or neglect. This new body would have the task of making control over the behavior of magistrates more rigorous and transparent.
Who can vote and the issue of non-residents
The electoral body involved is approximately 50 million citizens. Italians residing abroadregistered with Aire, the registry of Italians residing abroadwill vote by post as required by law. However, the controversy regarding students and off-site workers remains open.
Despite some experiments that occurred in previous years, the decree for this electoral round has not provided for facilitated voting methods in the municipality of domicile. As a result, millions of people living far from their official residence will have to travel in order to exercise their right to vote.
Justice referendum 2026: how we got there
There justice reform touched seven articles of the Constitution. In Parliament it was approved with a majority of more than half of the members, but did not reach the two-thirds threshold, necessary when the Constitution is amended without parliamentary unanimity.
In this case, in fact, article 138 of the Charter provides that the word passes to the citizens who, through the so-called confirmatory constitutional referendumwill be able to definitively validate or reject the reform approved by the Chambers. Now there is nothing left but to wait for the result.