Meloni judicial reform referendum appears to fail

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Italian premier Giorgia Meloni casts her ballot in a referendum on judicial reform, in Rome, Italy. Photograph: Valentina Stefanelli/AP theguardian.com

Die rechte Ministerpräsidentin Italiens, Giorgia Meloni, ist mit einer Justizreform gescheitert. (Archivfoto) © AFP | Nicolas Tucat Archivfoto

Italienische Regierungschefin Giorgia Meloni  wp.de

Venezianische Kanalszene bei Sonnenuntergang wp.de

Italy's Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni attends a session of the Italian Parliament for communications ahead of the European Council meeting, and on developments in the Middle East crisis, on March 11, 2026. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP) wp.de

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Italy’s voters appear to have rejected Giorgia Meloni’s flagship judicial reform in a two‑day referendum, with exit polls putting the “No” side narrowly ahead. The Guardian’s live coverage reported pollsters showing the government-backed “Yes” camp on 47–51% against 49–53% for “No”, while Germany’s Funke Mediengruppe cited an early projection from Rai of 53.9% “No” to 46.1% “Yes”. Turnout reached about 58%, unusually high for a technical referendum.

The reform package was never an easy retail product. Funke reports that the core proposal was to separate the career tracks of judges and prosecutors and to create new self-governing bodies for each, with parliament involved in appointments—changes the government framed as modernisation and critics framed as political encroachment. Italy’s right has long argued that parts of the judiciary lean left; Silvio Berlusconi made the complaint a recurring theme during his own legal troubles. Opponents, including magistrates’ organisations, warned that giving parliament a stronger hand in judicial careers would weaken independence.

The referendum format turned a complex institutional design question into a coordination contest between blocs. A “Yes” vote would have strengthened Meloni’s hand ahead of a planned electoral law overhaul, which the Guardian notes she hoped could help her coalition secure a comfortable win in the next general election. A “No” vote does more than stop a constitutional change: it signals that the government cannot reliably mobilise a majority on reforms that touch entrenched institutions, even when turnout is high.

That matters because Italy’s justice system is widely acknowledged to be slow. Funke notes that cases take longer than in many European peers and that public trust is low, with one survey showing only about four in ten Italians trusting the judiciary. A defeated reform does not remove the pressure to change outcomes—delays, backlogs, and credibility—but it changes who sets the terms. If the government wants movement, it will have to bargain with the same professional bodies and parliamentary forces that campaigned against it, and the price of agreement rises when the electorate has just demonstrated that it can be rallied to block.

Meloni had ruled out personal consequences from a defeat. But referendums have a way of producing hard numbers that coalition partners, civil servants, and institutional rivals can quote back at a prime minister long after the campaign slogans have faded.

The final count was still pending on Monday afternoon. The interior ministry’s turnout figure was already in.