Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has conceded defeat in a referendum on her justice reforms, while confirming she would not hand in her resignation.

“The Italians have decided. And we respect this decision,” she said in a statement on X on Monday, alongside a video, saying the result of the referendum was “a lost opportunity to modernise Italy”.

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In the video, she stressed that “this does not change our commitment to continue, with seriousness and determination, to work for the good of the nation and to honour the mandate entrusted to us”.

Meloni’s hard-right government wanted to change Italy’s constitution to separate the roles of judges and prosecutors and reform their oversight body.

She claimed the plan is essential to guarantee impartiality and improve the functioning of Italy’s creaking justice system.

But critics slammed it as a political power grab that fails to address the real challenges, from years-long trials to prison overcrowding.

Elly Schlein, the leader of the centre-left Democratic Party, said before the vote that the proposal is poorly drafted and “weakens the independence of the judiciary”.

Fight with judiciary

Meloni and her ministers have repeatedly attacked rulings they claim are too lenient, particularly on the issue of immigration.

Their proposed reform sparked intense opposition within the judiciary, with more than 80 percent of members of Italy’s National Magistrates Association staging a one-day strike last year.

The referendum campaign was hard-fought and bitter.

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In a public spat last month, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio – who had called criticism from judges “petulant litanies” – said the reform would correct a “para-mafia mechanism” within the judiciary.

Giusi Bartolozzi, Nordio’s chief of staff, also drew widespread criticism when she said during a talk show that the reform would “get rid of” magistrates who operated like “execution squads”.

The most divisive part of the reform involved changes to the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM), an oversight and disciplinary body whose members are elected by their peers and parliament.

The reform was going to divide the CSM into two separate councils, one for judges and one for prosecutors, and create a new 15-member disciplinary court.

Members were planned to be drawn by lots, no longer voted on by their peers, with three members of the court chosen by Italy’s ceremonial president and three from a list of experienced lawyers approved by parliament.

The second part of the reform aimed to prevent judges and public prosecutors from switching between the two functions, addressing concerns that overly cosy relations between the two groups harm defendants.