Alfonso Quaranta is the new president of the Constitutional Court. He was elected this morning with 10 votes in favor and three blank ballots. 13 out of 15 judges took part in the election. he He has not yet been elected by Parliament, in fact, the successor to outgoing president De Siervo and Maria Rita Saulle did not attend the session for health reasons.
The first declarations on the important decisions that the Consulta will have to take tomorrow concerned the admissibility of the referendum question on nuclear power were not long in coming. The question was modified by the Court of Cassation, after the moratorium put in place by the Government, which in the intentions of the executive would make consultation superfluous. Hence the appeal to the Constitutional Court, which will be called to express itself on an issue with important, perhaps decisive, political implications. "We will make the best possible evaluation and reach a decision tomorrow" - said Quaranta. A halt to the referendum seems difficult to me, I don't think the court has the faculties."
Quaranta, a judge elected by the Council of State, took office in December 2004 and will remain there until the same month of 2013. Appreciated by the centre-right, the newly elected judge boasts extensive experience in the field of administrative justice: he has held, among others, also the office of president of the Legal Council of Poste Italiane and is a professor of administrative law at the "Sapienza" University of Rome. The practice of seeing the most senior judge rise to the top of the council in order to guarantee frequent alternation of office has not been respected, as has already happened on other occasions. Quaranta, who is the 35th president, got the better of Paolo Maddalena, vice president and substitute president, who had given up on the race in recent days; also defeated Alfio Finocchiaro, he too will see his mandate expire within the year.
The agenda of the Court for the coming months is full of decisions with strong political implications: such as the resolution of the conflict of attribution raised for the Ruby and Mediatrade trials. Several points of the law on assisted reproduction are also at stake.
