Italy needs legality for judiciary efficiecy: president

Italian President Sergio Mattarella said Tuesday that his country "needs legality" as the judiciary must "try to recover efficiency" in order to respond to this deeply-felt need.

Mattarella made the remarks at a school of magistrates in Scandicci, near Florence. He said the Constitution tasks magistrates with a role that is "neither a starring ... nor a bureaucratic one," and "the magistrate must be just and impartial."

As well, magistrates must work quickly because "justice must be prompt if it is to be effective," he was quoted as saying by the local media.

Mattarella, a former minister and Constitutional Court judge, took office as the president earlier this month. He was elected 12th Italian president on Jan. 31.

As a new president of Italy, Mattarella also showed his determination to reduce official privilege.

According to local media, the president has made a point of traveling on public transport as much as he can. On Tuesday, he took a high-speed train from Rome to Florence, then took a tram to nearby Scandicci to give his speech for those who will be the new generation of Italian magistrates.

Earlier this month, Mattarella chose to take a regular civil flight to go home in Sicily, instead of using a private plane, one of the privileges for the Italian president. Endit