Italy launches 'Berlusconi' legal reform to bolster rights of accused

FILE PHOTO: A pallbearer holds a portrait of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi while walking in front of the coffin during his state funeral at the Duomo Cathedral, in Milan, Italy June 14, 2023. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's cabinet on Thursday approved a justice reform aimed at strengthening the rights of defendants, measures long advocated by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who died this week after years of legal battles with prosecutors.

The bill, which Giorgia Meloni's rightist government dedicated to Berlusconi, curbs the use of wiretaps, complicates procedures for ordering arrests and scraps the crime of abuse of office, among a raft of steps to clip the wings of prosecutors.