The government of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who faces trial on corruption and sex charges, has unveiled what he has called "epoch making" reforms in Italy's justice system.
But critics said the move was aimed at taming the country's powerful independent magistrates.
"This is a counter-reformation," said Donatella Ferranti, of the largest opposition grouping, The Democratic Party. "There is no hiding that the real aim of the government is to keep magistrates under control."
The reform, which will have to undergo a long parliamentary process before final approval, came as Mr Berlusconi resumed hostilities with magistrates whom he has repeatedly accused of trying to bring him down for political reasons.
The plan would introduce a clear separation between the careers of investigative magistrates and judges and transfer powers for disciplining magistrates to an outside body. It will also speed up Italy's notoriously snail-paced justice system.
Judges who make wrong decisions could be liable to lawsuits by aggrieved citizens, similar to medical malpractice suits, justice minister Angelino Alfano said.
In an attempt to rebuff accusations that reforms are designed to protect Mr Berlusconi,
Mr Alfano said trials that have already begun will not be affected by the changes, which could take more than a year to implement.
The CSM, the High Council of the Magistracy which has often clashed with Mr Berlusconi, would be split in two and its powers to discipline magistrates would pass to a special body, which could include members from outside the judicial system.
Maurizio Paniz, a lawyer and senior deputy in the ruling PDL party, said the changes were intended to restore the balance between defendants and the prosecution, and impose proper controls on investigators.
"As things stand today, they don't answer to anyone. The CSM is highly politicized and incoherent and that makes it difficult for it to reach judgments calmly and properly," he said. "This is absolutely not a reform aimed against the magistrates."
ANM, the main magistrates association, has rejected Mr Berlusconi's accusations that "communist" justice officials have tried to pervert the system to defeat him and have said the reforms appeared aimed at limiting their autonomy.
"This is a punitive reform whose overall aim is to undermine the autonomy and independence of the magistrates," the ANM said in a statement.
Powerful, independent magistrates have been responsible for great change in Italy, notably in the 1990s when the "Clean Hands" inquiries uncovered a vast network of corruption and led to the overthrow of the whole political system.
Mr Berlusconi, who has faced at least a dozen trials and scores of judicial investigations over the years, was recently stripped of his immunity from prosecution by a constitutional court ruling that has reopened three related corruption trials.
He also stands accused of paying for sex with a minor and abusing the power of his office to try to cover up his connection with the teenaged nightclub dancer, whose stage name Ruby has become a household word in Italy.
He denies doing anything illegal in any of the cases but his battles with the justice system have reopened his longstanding feud with the magistrates and raised suspicions in some quarters that the reforms are aimed at reining them in.
The centre-left opposition has also accused Berlusconi of trying to gain revenge on magistrates for his legal troubles.
Reuters