On Saturday, January 25, the judicial year was inaugurated, and magistrates in Italy staged numerous protests against the justice reform that is presently being debated in the Chamber. Judges walked out of courtrooms in the 26 Italian Courts of Appeal during speeches by government representatives. The National Association of Magistrates (the ANM, the trade union representative body of the category) is most concerned with the so-called separation of magistrates' careers, which is a provision of the reform that establishes clearly distinct careers for prosecutors (who conduct investigations) and judges (who issue sentences). The union argues that the reform puts "the autonomy and independence of the judiciary at risk." In Naples, district magistrates greeted Justice Minister Carlo Nordio with tricolor ribbons pinned to their robes and copies of the Constitution in hand. When Nordio began speaking, the judges left the Court of Appeal courtroom, where the usual ceremonial was taking place. Similar scenes occurred in Rome, where the undersecretary to the presidency of the Council, Alfredo Mantovano, was present, and in Bari, where the deputy minister of justice, Paolo Sisto, was also there. In Milan, judges and prosecutors gathered on the court steps before the ceremony, displaying banners with quotes from politician and partisan Piero Calamandrei regarding the Italian Constitution. Nordio commented on the protests, thanking the magistrates for expressing their dissent "in a composed manner."