JUDGES JUSTIFY SLACK COLLEAGUE

JUDGES JUSTIFY SLACK COLLEAGUE

(ANSA) - Bari, November 17 - Colleagues of a judge whose slackness in writing a report caused the release of more than 20 Mafia members told a hearing on the case Tuesday that Bari Tribunal magistrates were snowed under with work.

Six judges who testified on behalf of colleague Rosa Anna Depalo told a disciplinary hearing that the amount of work at the Tribunal was overwhelming.

The Mafiosi walked out of jail on a technical loophole in April because Depalo failed to write her report in the required legal term.

Depalo found the 21 members of a powerful Bari crime syndicate guilty on January 16, 2008 but never found time to explain her ruling in writing until 15 months later.

In Italy's three-tier justice system, the arguments behind a verdict must be formally issued before the next phase starts.

The glitch allowed eight defendants to walk out of jail and 13 others from house arrest on April 15.

De Palo handed in her report on April 28.

Last year a judge was sacked from the judiciary because he failed to write up a sentence over an eight-year period, leaving Mafia bosses roaming the streets of Sicily.

photo: Bari courthouse in background.