Policies of Silvio Berlusconi and peddling. Another was a penal code reform forbidding prosecutors to appeal against acquittals (defendants could still appeal, though). This law was not signed by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, but eventually went through both houses of parliament again, forcing the head of state to sign it. The law was declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court, since the constitution of Italy provides for equal rights for prosecutors and defendants. Policies of Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi was the Prime Minister of Italy, the head of the country's government, for almost ten years. Berlusconism () is a term used in the Western media
Helmut Kohl more than a year in January 2000, but he was partly rehabilitated in later years. The later Chancellor Angela Merkel started her political career as Kohl's protegée. Kohl was described as "the greatest European leader of the second half of the 20th century" by U.S. Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Kohl received the Charlemagne Prize in 1988 with François Mitterrand; in 1998 Kohl became the second person to be named Honorary Citizen of Europe by the European heads of state or government. Following his death, Kohl was honored with the first ever European Act of State in