Parliament overrules Berlusconi ‘Ruby trial’

On the eve of the trial in Milan, where Silvio Berlusconi was due to face three judges, charged with paying an underage prostitute and abusing his power, the Italian Parliament has thrown a spanner in the works by ruling that the decision to prosecute belongs to the country's Constitutional Court and not to the criminal justice system.

Members of parliament voted by 314 to 302 this afternoon to approve a motion asking Italy's Constitutional Court to rule on who should try the premier.

The majority was made possible by all of Berlusconi's ministers showing up to vote. As a result, it was standing room only in the chamber of the lower house.

Opposition parties, appalled by what they see as an eleventh-hour attempt to stop the Milan trial and its attendant media circus, have called for a protest rally in central Rome this evening.

It is not clear what exactly the three judges due to sit in Milan tomorrow will now do. It is assumed that the case will open and then be suspended pending the Constitutional Court's decision, which could be weeks coming. ·