Lawyers

• Italy's Berlusconi says Crimea split from Ukraine was democratic

  Four-time Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Sunday the Crimean people had made a democratic choice to split from Ukraine and hailed Russian President Vladimir Putin as the world's greatest political leader.

• Italy's Renzi faces election test as scandals overshadow vote

  Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi goes into elections this weekend hoping nascent signs of economic recovery after years of recession will outweigh a corruption scandal that has dogged one of the main candidates of his centre-left Democratic Party (PD).

• Italy president says he will step down soon

  Italy's 89-year-old President Giorgio Napolitano said on Wednesday that he would step down soon because of his age, leaving Prime Minister Matteo Renzi facing a delicate political challenge to replace him.

• Italy's constitutional law shutters drug law-spurred prison crowding

  The constitutional court of Italy shut down the harsh drug law that classifies marijuana and cannabis at par with heroin and cocaine, and said the law was unconstitutional.

• Silvio Berlusconi: Italian Senate Votes To Expel Ex-Prime Minister From Parliament Due To Tax Fraud Conviction (Video)

  The Italian Senate voted to expel former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from parliament, largely due to his tax fraud conviction. The 77-year-old Berlusconi could soon face arrest over other criminal cases after he lost his immunity from prosecution

• Italian Political Crisis: Berlusconi's Ministers Resign From Letta's Newly Formed Coalition Government Leading To Great Uncertainty (Video)

  Embattled former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's decision to order five ministers from his People of Freedom Party to resign from the newly-formed coalition of Enrico Letta's cabinet has plunged Italy into political chaos, leaving the euro-zone's third-largest economy without a functioning government.

• Silvio Berlusconi: Italian Supreme Court Upholds Prison Sentence for Former Prime Minister (Video)

  Italy's Supreme Court upheld the prison sentence given to the former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for tax fraud. The ruling which could throw the country's fragile coalition government into crisis.

• Berlusconi Found Guilty: Former Italian Prime Minister Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison For Abusing Power & Sex with Underage Prostitute; Will Appeal Verdict (Video)

  A panel of judges on Monday sentenced former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to seven years in prison for abusing power and having sex with an underage prostitute, CNN reported. Judges also barred him from holding public office.

• 'Bunga Bunga Parties:' 'Ruby' Testifies During Berlusconi Trial, Describing Steamy Details Involving Young Girls (Video)

  Karima el-Mahroug, the Moroccan woman at the center of a sex scandal involving former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi testified on Friday in court for the first time, describing how a young woman attending one of Berlusconi's "bunga bunga" parties dressed up like a nun, danced provocatively and stripped down to her underwear for the premier.