While the two cases involve different types of legal claims, they are products of the same corrupt judiciary and trials marred by remarkably similar violations of the ruleof law.
The decree transformed a farce into yet another example of Mr Berlusconi's contempt for the ruleof law, of a piece with a new draft law to allow ministers to delay criminal trials against them.
Iraqi-controlled trials will also help establish the ruleof law in Iraq, claims the administration, providing the cornerstone of a new, sorely-needed legal system.
The strict reporting restrictions both before and during trials, the absence of television cameras and the rule against jurors speaking to anyone after a verdict would seem secretive to an almost sinister degree, inviting miscarriages of justice rather than serving as guarantees against them.