Roberto Castelli

Roberto Castelli (born 12 July 1946) is an Italian politician. He was the Minister of Justice in the second and third governments of Silvio Berlusconi. IHe has been one of the main representatives of the Northern League.

Roberto Castelli
Minister of Justice
In office 11 June 2001 – 17 May 2006
Prime Minister	Silvio Berlusconi
Preceded by	Piero Fassino
Succeeded by	Clemente Mastella
Italian Republic Senator
In office 9 May 1996 – 14 March 2013
Constituency	Lombardy 1996-2008
Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from Northern Lombardy
In office 23 April 1992 – 8 May 1996
Personal details
Born	12 July 1946 Lecco, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	Northern League
Residence	Lecco, Lombardy
Alma mater	Politecnico di Milano
Profession	Engineer

Early life and education

Castelli was born in Lecco 12 July 1946.[1] He holds a degree in mechanic engineering.[1]

Career

Castelli is an engineer, and has been in politics with the Lega Nord since 1986. In 1992, Castelli was elected to the Chamber of Deputies and was re-elected in 1994. From 1996 to 2013 he was a member of the Senate, and for two years (1999–2001) he was chairman of parliamentary group of the Northern League in the Senate, as he is now.

Minister of Justice

In fall 2004, he completed a highly controversial reform of the judiciary,[2] but initially President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, even though he had been pressured by Castelli to do so, refused to sign the bill. The law was passed again in spring 2005.[3]

As a minister, he refused to sign President Ciampi's decision to pardon Adriano Sofri, leading to a conflict of powers in which the President has tried to reassert its exclusive competence in the matter (as stated in article 87 of the Constitution of Italy), and the minister claimed that he had the right to object. He also refused to request the extradition of 22 alleged CIA agents from the United States who were implicated in the kidnapping and torture of Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr. On 13 December 2012, Castelli said during the satirical talk show of Rai Radio 2 "Un giorno da pecora" he will not seek re-election to the 2013 Italian general election.

References

1. "Berlusconi cabinet". VIPS. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
2. "Giustizia, approvata la riforma Castelli" [Justice, the Castelli reform has been approved]. Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 1 December 2004. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
3. "Giustizia, Ciampi firma la riforma. Castelli: "Finita una partita sofferta"" [Judiciary, Ciampi signs the reform. Castelli, "A difficult match is over"]. La Repubblica (in Italian). 26 July 2005. Retrieved 25 July 2010.