Swiss-Italian talks end without resolution

The terms of judicial cooperation between Switzerland and Italy remain unresolved swissinfo.ch

A Swiss delegation has returned home after talks with Italy on legal cooperation without concrete results.

The delegation, led by the director of the Swiss justice ministry, Heinrich Koller, wanted to know the impact of new Italian legislation on a landmark 1998 cross-border judicial agreement between Italy and Switzerland.

When the accord was signed, authorities in both countries hailed the deal as a way of simplifying cross-border cooperation between the two countries. But after a change of government in Italy, the situation actually became more complicated.

Under new Italian laws, Rome can now dismiss the findings of investigations carried out by other countries, if their procedures do not correspond with those of Italy. The new measures could put an end to several judicial investigations, notably against the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi and his Fininvest media empire.

Berlusconi’s defence lawyers have already asked that any legal documents provided by Switzerland be deemed unusable.

Earlier this year, the Swiss justice minister, Ruth Metzler, made it clear to her Italian counterpart, Roberto Castelli, that the new legislation dealt a serious blow to judicial cooperation.

The talks

The delegation to Rome was just the latest in a series of presentations by the Swiss authorities to the Italian government concerning the implementation of the treaty.

The discussions ended without an agreement on all points regarding future legal cooperation. In a joint statement, however, Swiss and Italian delegates said they were “confident that satisfactory solutions could be found.”

The Swiss authorities were particularly concerned about the fate and certification of legal documents transferred to Italy’s judicial instances in cases requiring legal cooperation.

The talks took place in a friendly atmosphere and lasted eight hours, the Justice ministry spokesman, Folco Galli, told swissinfo. “Certain points are clearer than before, but other points still remain open.”

“In the end, only the courts in Italy are competent to apply the new legislation, so there is no final decision yet,” Galli explained.

The Swiss government, which is expecting a report from Koller, will have to decide whether to honour the 1998 agreement, in light of Italy’s new legislation.

swissinfo with agencies