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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni conceded defeat Monday in a referendum on judicial reform but said she would not resign.
“The Italians have decided. And we respect this decision,” Meloni said in a statement on X. “This does not change our commitment to continue, with seriousness and determination, to work for the good of the nation and to honour the mandate entrusted to us.”
Voters rejected the constitutional reform, with around 55% voting no and 45% voting yes, based on nearly all the votes counted. Turnout reached nearly 59%.
The reform would have split Italy’s judiciary into separate career paths for judges and prosecutors, divided the Superior Council of the Magistracy into two bodies and created a new Disciplinary Court.
Italy currently operates a unified judiciary where judges and prosecutors belong to the same professional body. They take the same entrance exam and can switch between roles during their careers.
Parliament approved the reform in October 2025 but it failed to secure the two-thirds majority needed to avoid a popular vote.
The referendum was confirmatory, meaning the law would have entered force only if the popular vote was in favour. No turnout quorum was required.
Galeazzo Bignami, leader of Meloni’s Brothers of Italy group in the Chamber of Deputies, said he had hoped for a different outcome. “It is a united proposal from the centre-right,” he said, noting the entire coalition had committed to the reform in 2022. “It cannot be said that the victory would be ours and the defeat of the others.”
Nicola Fratoianni, co-founder of the Green Left Alliance, said the right wanted to overturn the guarantee system. “It went badly for them,” he said. “Whoever sided with the yes party made a glaring mistake, on the merits and from a political point of view.”
Matteo Renzi, leader of Italia Viva, who abstained when the reform was approved in parliament, recommended that the government listen to the people. Renzi resigned as premier and leader of the Democratic Party after losing a constitutional referendum he had promoted in 2016.
Cesare Parodi, president of the National Association of Magistrates, announced his resignation on Monday. The decision was made for family reasons, but the timing coincided with the preliminary results.
Opponents argued the reform would erode judicial independence and give the government control over the magistracy, a claim Meloni denied.
Meloni has led Italy’s government since October 2022. Her mandate runs through 2027.
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