In breaking news, Italian news agency ANSA reports that Italy’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday struck down a controversial immunity law shielding Premier Silvio Berlusconi from several trials was illegitimate.

In immediate reactions, politicians including centrist opposition figures said the ruling would not mean the premier had to resign or call a snap election.

The ruling, which will immediately reopen two trials involving the premier, was based on the argument that the Berlusconi government should have used a special Constitutional law to give the premier immunity.

The law, despite being modified compared to a previous version quashed in 2004, was also overturned because it denied the fundamental principle that everyone is equal before the law.

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