Italian judge accused of bullying law students for sex
After accusations that he pressured female students for sex, made merit scholarship recipients sign secrecy and loyalty oaths and implemented a dress code that mandated miniskirts for women, an Italian judge and law school leader has been barred from teaching and faces removal from the bench.
Francesco Bellomo, who the Washington Post says sits on one of the country’s highest courts, was also director of Diritto e Scienza, a school that prepares students for the state exam to become a judge.
Italy’s Council of the State, the country’s top administrative justice body and where Bellomo works, is investigating allegations that Bellomo used his authority to have sex with female students. That itself is not illegal in Italy, according to the Washington Post. But when the female students tried to break off their relationships with Bellomo, he allegedly put private information about their lives in the school’s academic journal or threatened them with frivolous legal action, the Post reported.
Bellomo also made top students receiving scholarships sign contracts that pledged loyalty to him, and they took vows of secrecy, according to the Post, which also reported that these students’ romantic partners needed to be approved by the judge and that they were required to wear miniskirts.
The issue came to the council’s attention in December 2016, when a student’s father filed a complaint. The investigation was done in secret until documents from the matter were leaked to Il Fatto Quotidiano, an Italian newspaper. After that, two criminal investigations were opened against Bellomo. The Times reported last month that Bellomo’s colleage Davide Nalin, a prosecutor, is also being investigated for making the same demands of scholarship students.
In November, the Council of the State’s disciplinary committee voted narrowly to remove Bellomo from office. He remains until the full council, which meets Jan. 10, ratifies the decision.
In a statement to the newspaper, Alessandro Pajno, Council of the State president, said that disciplinary action came “swiftly” for Bellomo. Also, a spokesperson for body explained that disciplinary procedures are kept secret until finalized. However some say that the council’s actions protect men who abuse their power.
“Transparency is a core principle of the rule of law. When disciplinary hearings are made public, that’s best for everyone,” Eugenio Albamonte, president of Italy’s national association of judges, told the newspaper.
