Two Milan judges on Friday differed on the application of a new rule which would make criminal sentences longer for illegal immigrants.
Rejecting a defence plea that the security clause should first be vetted by the Constitutional Court, Judge Ilaria Freddi said that judges must abide by government decisions.
The rule that crimes committed by illegal immigrants receive longer sentences was the result of a political debate which it was not her job to judge, Freddi said.
The judge's ruling sparked a protest in which a dozen people at the back of the court shouted ''racists'' and unfurled a banner reading No To Race Laws.
They were bundled out by Carabinieri.
The defendant, a 27-year-old Moroccan accused of drug pushing, is expected to be sentenced later today.
Earlier, another Milan judge, Oscar Magi, declined to apply the clause, saying a Chilean teenager's crime was enough of an aggravating circumstance in itself.
Italy's Magistrates' Guild on Friday said another government move, to make undocumented entry into Italy a crime, would bring courts to a standstill, especially in the south.
The government has been split about the move which was deliberately left out of the recent security decree and is being debated in parliament.
Despite pressure from the Northern League to make entry a jailable offense, it appears likely that the crime will be set up only as a deterrent and illegal immigrants will be expelled without taking up much court time, if any.
The government's crackdown on immigration has led to complaints from human rights bodies but Premier Silvio Berlusconi stressed Friday that the European Union's move Thursday to toughen immigration policy confirmed that Italy was ''on the right track''.
The 27 EU interior ministers agreed to extend immigrant detention terms to 18 months and raise the penalty for unlawful re-entry to five years.
