As Italy prepares to vote on a referendum concerning judicial reform in less than a month, a prominent left-leaning legal association is drawing scrutiny for its utilize of the legacies of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in its campaign against the proposed changes. The debate underscores the complex political currents surrounding the referendum and the attempts to frame the narrative around Italy’s fight against organized crime.
Magistratura Democratica, a highly influential current within Italy’s judiciary, is actively campaigning for a “no” vote and has employed a striking visual – a cartoon published in Repubblica depicting a dialogue between Falcone and Borsellino: “We are heroes,” and “Dead.”
However, the relationship between Falcone and Magistratura Democratica was far from amicable during his lifetime. Despite sharing a broadly progressive political outlook, a deep rift developed between the Palermo magistrate and the association, fueled by ideological disagreements and clashes over strategies to combat the mafia. These tensions became apparent in the latter half of the 1980s.
Falcone, while deeply committed to constitutional values, adopted a pragmatic and specialized approach to fighting organized crime. Magistratura Democratica, however, viewed some of his ideas with suspicion.
When Falcone proposed the creation of the Direzione Investigativa Antimafia (DIA) – the Anti-Mafia Investigative Directorate – and the Direzione Nazionale Antimafia (DNA) – the National Anti-Mafia Directorate, Magistratura Democratica opposed the initiatives. Some members of the association accused Falcone of “yielding” to political power and attempting to hierarchize the judiciary.
Further conflict arose during the selection of a replacement for Antonino Caponnetto as a member of the anti-mafia pool in Palermo. Caponnetto, the head of the pool, stepped down in 1987 due to age limits, believing Falcone was his natural successor.
The two leading candidates were Falcone, the technical core of the maxi-trial and Antonino Meli, a long-serving magistrate with limited specific experience in mafia investigations. Meli was older than Falcone, and some members of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) argued that seniority should outweigh merit and knowledge of the mafia phenomenon. The vote resulted in a 15-10 decision in favor of Meli, with three abstentions.
Despite being the most progressive component within the judiciary, a significant portion of Magistratura Democratica’s representatives on the CSM voted against Falcone, proving decisive in his defeat.
Numerous users pointed to this history as an example of hypocrisy in response to Magistratura Democratica’s post featuring the Repubblica cartoon, but those comments were reportedly deleted, seemingly in an attempt to conceal the historical relationship between Falcone and the association.
