Roberto Castelli

Senatore
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
from Ligury
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 May 1996
Constituency from 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 Lega Nord
Residence Lecco, Lombardy
Alma mater Politecnico di Milano
Profession Engineer
Religion Roman Catholic

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. In addition, he is a Senator and one of the main representatives of Lega Nord.

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 Northern League since 1986. In 1992, Castelli was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies, and he was confirmed in 1994. Since 1996 he sits in Senate of Republic, and for two years (1999–2001) he was chairman of parliamentary group of the Northern League in the Senate, as he is now. On 2010 mid-term elections he run as mayor of his home town but he was defeated.

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 Italian general election, 2013

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roberto Castelli.
  1. 1.0 1.1 "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.
Political offices
Preceded by
Piero Fassino
Italian Minister of Justice
2001–2006
Succeeded by
Clemente Mastella
Preceded by
Tommaso Casillo, Luigi Meduri
Infrastructures
Andrea Annunziata, Raffaele Gentile
Transports
Undersecretary to the Italian Minister of Infrastructures
2008 – present
Served alongside: Bartolomeo Giachino, Mario Mantovani, Giuseppe Maria Reina
Incumbent
Italian Chamber of Deputies
Preceded by
Title jointly held
Deputy
1992–1996
Succeeded by
Title jointly held
Italian Senate
Preceded by
Title jointly held
Senator
1996 – present
Incumbent