Berlusconi's appetite for law reform does not convince rivals

No surprise, then, that one of his closest acolytes has launched what Mr Berlusconi calls an "epoch-making" reform of Italy's dysfunctional justice system but what critics condemn as a simple stay-out-of-jail card for the Italian prime minister.

Like everything in Italy, the truth is more complex than it looks, and behind it all is politics.

Justice minister Angelino Alfano, a 40-year-old Sicilian often cast as Mr Berlusconi's political heir, took great pains to deny his major constitutional reform was aimed at getting his boss off the hook when it was launched last month.

Many remained unconvinced. "Most people from all political sides think the administration of justice is hopeless and needs serious reform, but when it is coming from the fox who has already been in the hen house ... it just doesn't work," said Professor James Walston of the American University in Rome.

Promoting credible legal reform should be an astute political move in Italy, where interminable court delays are deeply unpopular.

It took more than 30 years to convict three neo-fascists for one of Italy's greatest political crimes, a 1969 Milan bank bombing which set off decades of right- and left-wing terrorism. An anarchist fall-guy originally charged with the crime was not acquitted for 16 years.

A simple civil case can take eight or more years to resolve and 200,000 such cases do not get to court every year. There is a backlog of nearly six million civil trials and Italy has been condemned for the delays by the European Court of Justice.

Treasury officials say the system is a major disincentive to foreign investment. There is wide support for change.

As a result of this, Mr Alfano's reform can on one level be seen as a clever move which has caused new divisions among the squabbling opposition parties and enables the government to portray itself as a moderniser.

A key provision, which Mr Alfano says will rebalance the legal system in favour of the accused, breaks close ties between prosecutors and judges, who often share offices.

The trouble is that the timing of the reform looks more than coincidental with Mr Berlusconi's latest legal woes, including a trial starting on Wednesday in which he is accused of paying for sex with "Ruby", an under-age Moroccan dancer, and then trying to cover it up.

New measures introduced since Mr Alfano's "grand reform" have greatly increased the suspicion the whole process is really aimed at helping Mr Berlusconi dodge justice and take revenge on the magistrates who have pursued him for decades.

They include increasing the civil legal responsibility of judges for flawed decisions and a provision expected to be approved this week to shorten the statute of limitations.

The latter would kill one of the cases, in which Mr Berlusconi is accused of paying British lawyer David Mills a 375,000 bribe to give false evidence about his business dealings.

The national magistrates association attacked the latest measures, calling them "punitive and intimidatory" and saying they revealed the real purpose of Mr Alfano's reform.

Mr Berlusconi says more than 1,000 magistrates have brought 31 prosecutions against him in 17 years, of which 24 have been shelved or resulted in his acquittal.

He recently accused judges of holding a sword of Damocles over "the only obstacle that prevents the Left from taking power ... unfortunately Communism never surrendered in Italy".

A significant criticism of Mr Alfano's reform is that there are only two years left until the next scheduled elections, very short for such a major and complex constitutional change. While officials say there is time, analysts suggest the primary motivation for his reform is political.

Whatever the truth, Mr Berlusconi's supporters relish what they see as a final showdown.

"This law is the kick-off in the final between Berlusconi and the judges. A perfect playing field," said ministerial under-secretary Andrea Augello.