Italy PM seeks to save Albanian migrant deal amid spat with judges

A group of migrants embark on an Italian coast guard ship at Shengjin port in Albania on October 19, 2024. [AFP]

Italy's hard-right government passed a new law Monday to overcome legal opposition to a migrant deal with Albania, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni accused judges of political bias.

The decree, which was adopted at a cabinet meeting late Monday, enshrines in law the government's definition of countries as "safe", which would mean Rome can fast-track applications from asylum seekers from those countries.

The move follows a ruling by Italian judges on Friday against the detention of the first migrants sent for processing in Italian-run centres in Albania.

Rome has said that other European Union countries are interested in its flagship policy as a way of processing asylum requests in countries outside the bloc.

But 12 Bangladesh and Egyptian migrants sent to Albania last week had to leave again after the judges' ruling and were taken to Italy.

The judges pointed to a recent European Court of Justice ruling which stipulates that EU states can only designate whole countries as safe, not parts. Some nations on Italy's list include areas which are not considered safe.

As a general rule, EU law takes precedence over conflicting national laws.

Meloni on Friday slammed the ruling as "prejudiced" and said she had called the cabinet meeting "to approve laws to overcome this obstacle because I don't think it's up to the judges to say which countries are safe, but the government."

'Dangerous'

The cabinet decree would enter into force immediately before being made law by parliament, where the government has a majority.

The law states that all parts of the designated countries are safe for all categories of people, disregarding caveats in the government's current directives.

However, the government did exclude three countries -- Cameroon, Colombia and Nigeria -- from its previous list of 22 "safe" countries to conform with a recent ruling from the European Court of Justice. The list of countries will be updated annually.

Immigration lawyer Guido Savio told AFP the abrupt change would likely lead to new legal challenges.

Italy has long been on the front line of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe and Meloni was elected in 2022 on a pledge to stop the boats.

Her coalition has previously clashed with judges over attempts to limit the work done by charity organisations that rescue migrants at sea.

The row escalated Sunday, with Meloni publishing excerpts on social media of a letter sent by one prosecutor to a group which includes judges.

In it, Marco Patarnello warned that Meloni is "stronger and much more dangerous" than former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who faced frequent legal woes and who repeatedly attacked the judiciary.

Right-wing politicians said the letter proved the legal bias against the government.

Critics pointed out however that Meloni did not post the rest of the text, in which Patarnello said "We must not engage in political opposition, but we must defend jurisdiction and the citizens' right to an independent judge".

Across the European Union, individual member states are responsible for drawing up their own "safe" country lists. However, the EU intends eventually to agree on a bloc-wide list, officials say.