http://digbig.com/4ntde
"Judiciary says 80% of trials are now pointless. The body in charge of Italy's judiciary slammed a prisoner pardon recently approved by parliament, saying the vast majority of ongoing trials were now "pointless". The Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM) unanimously approved a resolution protesting that 80% of pending trials were futile. [..] The pardon knocked three years off sentences with the aim of easing chronic overcrowding in Italy's jails. But the measure controversially covered all crimes committed before May 2, 2006, making it applicable to past, present and future sentences. Given the slow pace of the Italian trial system, which allows two appeals before a sentence is considered definitive, the pardon will have an effect for years to come."
