Italian court rejects part of immigration law

Italy's highest court delivered a fresh rebuff to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday when it ruled that a key part of a government measure imposing tough restrictions on immigration was illegal.

The Constitutional Court said an article allowing authorities to deport illegal immigrants was unconstitutional because it did not give them due access to defence and appeal before forcibly escorting them to the border.

"The subject cannot be deprived of every guarantee of defence," the judges wrote in their ruling.

They also annulled a provision in the 2002 law requiring the arrest of immigrants who failed to leave the country within five days of being ordered out.

The ruling comes at a tough time for Mr Berlusconi as he scrambles to hold his centre-right government together amid severe coalition unrest, with one partner threatening to quit the cabinet by today if there is not a serious "shake-up".

The immigration bill is also just the latest in a string of laws approved during Mr Berlusconi's three-year-old term to come under fire from Italy's courts.

The immigration law, spearheaded by the head of the populist Northern League, Umberto Bossi, and conservative National Alliance leader Gianfranco Fini, aimed to clamp down on the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who head to Italy each year.

As it was going through parliament in 2002, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees warned the bill provided no assistance for people awaiting asylum and said it should not allow the expulsion of those appealing a refusal of asylum.

Other controversial elements were a measure requiring all non-European Union foreigners to be digitally fingerprinted, and an article giving naval patrols greater powers to deal with the boatloads of illegal immigrants off Italy's shores.

Despite outbursts from some of the law's backers yesterday, officials said the court decision would be quickly addressed and the law modified with a government decree currently being draw up by the Interior Ministry.

Other legal setbacks for Mr Berlusconi and his centre-right coalition include a court annulment in January of a legal immunity law blocking a trial for bribery against Mr Berlusconi.

Last month, a top court also disputed parts of a controversial amnesty on illegal buildings that is key to government plans to rein in the budget.