Projections released Monday evening showed voters rejected Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s judicial reform package, with roughly 54% voting against and 46% in favor. Meloni acknowledged the result in an online statement, calling it “a lost chance to modernize Italy” and saying she would respect the decision. She added she would “continue, with seriousness and determination, to work for the good of the nation and to honor the mandate entrusted to us.”
The defeat is a major setback for Meloni and her ruling coalition, which has led the country since 2022. The measures on the ballot would have separated the career tracks of judges and prosecutors to block transfers between the two roles and split the Superior Council of the Judiciary into two oversight bodies. Those bodies’ members would have been chosen by lot rather than elected by peers and lawmakers, and the reform also proposed a new 15-member disciplinary body.
Justice Minister Carlo Nordio defended the plan, saying it would curb what he called a “para-Mafia mechanism” within parts of the judiciary. Opponents countered that only a small number of magistrates actually move between prosecutorial and judging roles and argued the changes would not tackle Italy’s most urgent judicial problem: the extremely slow pace of trials that drives case backlogs and prison overcrowding.
The opposition used the referendum campaign to step up criticism of Meloni, accusing her government of trying to exert political control over the courts. Former prime minister Giuseppe Conte of the Five Star Movement celebrated the projected outcome online, saying, “We did it! Long live the Constitution!” He described the vote as an “eviction notice for this government after four years,” though Meloni has said she will remain in office.
Former prime minister Matteo Renzi noted that a leader in Meloni’s position could not simply treat the result as business as usual, recalling his own 2016 resignation after losing a referendum on parliamentary reforms.
Italy is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections next year.