British lawyer David Mills, shown in this photo from 2006, was found guilty of accepting a bribe form Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi. (Andrew Stuart/AFP/Getty Images)
Berlusconi had secured immunity in this and other trials against him under a law passed by his government, but Italy's top court this month ruled that his temporary protection from prosecution while he held office violated the constitution.
That means that the portion of the Mills trial involving Berlusconi, which was put on hold when the law granting him immunity came into force, can now go ahead.
Berlusconi has been charged with paying Mills the $600,000 bribe from alleged "secret funds" held by his Mediaset television empire to withhold incriminating details about the tycoon-turned-politician.
Berlusconi maintains that the Milan judges trying his cases are leftists who are politically motivated and has vowed to stay on as prime minister.
"This once more confirms that no trials can be held in Milan when they, even indirectly, are linked to Berlusconi," said Berlusconi's lawyer, Niccolo Ghedini.
"This decision is completely illogical," he said, adding he believed it would be overturned in another appeal.
There was no immediate reaction by Berlusconi himself, who political sources said was suffering from a mild bout of scarlet fever.
Sentence
Rejecting Mills' appeal, the Milan court confirmed a February verdict sentencing him to 4-1/2 years in jail for corruption and ordering him to pay 250,000 euros ($372,100) in damages to the Italian government.
Mills, the estranged husband of British Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell, will now lodge another appeal with Italy's highest court, his lawyer said. If Mills is convicted there, he will have to start serving the prison sentence.
Berlusconi's own trial in the Mills case is due to restart from scratch but if it does not end by June 2010, it will be stopped by the statute of limitations.
In another case, Berlusconi is accused of tax fraud and false accounting in the purchase of TV rights by Mediaset. That trial, the first he faces since his immunity was lifted, is due to start on Nov. 16.
Berlusconi said after he was stripped of immunity that the trials against him were "false, laughable, absurd", and that he would defend himself in the courtrooms.
But the 73-year old leader, who says he was involved in 109 trials and spent 200 million euros in legal fees since he entered politics in 1993, has also pledged to reform the judicial system, widely regarded as opaque and painfully slow.
He has vowed to reform the constitution and split the career path of judges from prosecutors, arguing the current system makes court cases biased towards the prosecution.
Critics say his real aim is to tame magistrates and seek his own immunity by other means.
