Rome (CNN)Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose flamboyant presence has long dominated the nation's politics, will be allowed to stand for political office again, an Italian court has ruled.
Berlusconi: Former PM turned kingmaker 02:51
The Court of Milan on Friday granted Berlusconi "rehabilitation," effectively lifting the ban on him re-entering politics that has been in place since his 2013 conviction for tax fraud. Under the so-called "Severino Law," anyone sentenced to a jail term of more than two years is not allowed to run for public office.
The court's decision may have come too late for Berlusconi this election cycle, though.
On Wednesday, he gave his blessing for the anti-immigrant League party to form a coalition government that does not include his Forza Italia party.
However, the ruling opens the door for the 81-year-old billionaire to run for office next time elections are held.
Ruling may be appealed
The chief prosecutor of Milan, Roberto Alfonso, is still considering whether to challenge the court's decision, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
"We will read and evaluate," Alfonso told reporters Saturday, adding that the court's written decision had not yet been sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office in Milan.
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a billionaire media mogul nicknamed "Il Cavaliere" (The Knight), has emerged as an unlikely kingmaker in Italy's general elections.
Hide Caption
1 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi began his career as a cruise ship singer before making a fortune in real estate and starting a media empire that grew into the Mediaset conglomerate.
Hide Caption
2 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi, right, with journalist Indro Montanelli in 1977.
Hide Caption
3 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi swims at a Tunisian beach in 1984. In 1980, he launched Canale 5, Italy's first national commercial television network. Italia 1 followed in 1982, and then there was Rete 4 in 1984.
Hide Caption
4 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi leaves a 1985 news conference in Paris.
Hide Caption
5 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi poses for a photo in 1986. That year, he bought the football club AC Milan.
Hide Caption
6 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi married his second wife, Veronica Lario, in 1990.
Hide Caption
7 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi speaks during a center-right coalition rally in Naples, Italy, in 1993.
Hide Caption
8 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi announced in November 1993 that he would be entering the world of politics. He started the Forza Italia party in 1994.
Hide Caption
9 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi is surrounded by supporters during a rally in Rome in February 1994.
Hide Caption
10 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi was elected prime minister for the first time in May 1994.
Hide Caption
11 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi chats with lawmaker Cesare Previti at the Italian Senate during a vote of confidence for Berlusconi's government on May 17, 1994.
Hide Caption
12 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi meets with Pope John Paul II on May 21, 1994.
Hide Caption
13 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
US President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton meet Berlusconi and his wife, Veronica Lario, during an official visit to Rome in June 1994.
Hide Caption
14 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi waves while attending a European Council meeting in Corfu, Greece, in June 1994.
Hide Caption
15 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi plays with daughters Barbara, left, and Eleonora in Milan.
Hide Caption
16 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi speaks to the press on December 23, 1994, a day after he submitted his resignation to President Oscar Scalfaro. He had lost the support of other political parties.
Hide Caption
17 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi ran for prime minister in 1996, but lost to Romano Prodi. He ran again in 2001 and was elected. Here, he campaigns in Tatanto, Italy, on May 5, 2001.
Hide Caption
18 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi smiles during a rally in Rome on May 11, 2001. Two days later, he won the general election.
Hide Caption
19 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi addresses a court in Milan, Italy, in June 2003. He was defending himself against corruption charges linked to his media company.
Hide Caption
20 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi wipes his jacket during a news conference in Rome in 2006. He lost the election that year to Romano Prodi.
Hide Caption
21 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi leaves a hospital in Milan in December 2009, following treatment for injuries he received during a campaign rally. A man wielding a model of Milan's cathedral attacked Berlusconi during the rally, breaking his nose and some of his teeth.
Hide Caption
22 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi hands the Berlusconi Trophy to AC Milan's Massimo Ambrosini in August 2011. The trophy is awarded annually to the winner of a friendly football match in Milan.
Hide Caption
23 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi waves as he leaves a court in Milan in September 2011.
Hide Caption
24 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi attends the G20 summit in Cannes, France, in November 2011.
Hide Caption
25 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi rubs his eyes after delivering a speech in Rome in October 2013. That month, Berlusconi was preliminarily indicted on allegations he bribed a senator to support his party in 2006. He would be convicted in 2015 and banned from holding public office for five years.
Hide Caption
26 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi smiles as he arrives at his home in Rome in March 2015. Italy's top court had just cleared him of charges that he paid for sex with an underage dancer and then abused his position as prime minister to cover it up.
Hide Caption
27 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi holds his ballot before casting his vote in the referendum on constitutional reform in December 2016.
Hide Caption
28 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi appears on the television talk show "L'aria che tira" in Rome in January 2018.
Hide Caption
29 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi has makeup applied before a television appearance in February 2018.
Hide Caption
30 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi appears on the television program "Tagada" in February 2018. Italy will hold general elections on March 4, and Berlusconi, as leader of the Forza Italia party, has brokered a right-wing alliance with the neo-fascist Brothers of Italy party and the anti-immigrant Northern League.
Hide Caption
31 of 32
Photos: 'Il Cavaliere' Silvio Berlusconi
Berlusconi gives a speech during a political rally in Milan in February 2018.
Hide Caption
32 of 32
Berlusconi has been Prime Minister four times for a total of nine years, longer than anyone since fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
He has been tried 22 times on charges ranging from tax evasion and bribery to corruption and association with the Cosa Nostra. Although he was given a four-year prison sentence in that case, he escaped with a year of community service in an old people's home because in Italy, the over-70s don't usually go to jail.
