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Thegovernment of Italy is that of ademocratic republic, established by the Italianconstitution in 1948. It consists oflegislative,executive, andjudicial subdivisions, as well as of ahead of state, known as thepresident.
TheConstitution of the Italian Republic is the result of the work of theConstituent Assembly, which was formed by the representatives of all theanti-fascist forces that contributed to the defeat ofnazis and the fascist forces during theItalian Civil War.[1] Article 1 of the Italian constitution states:[2]
"Italy is a democratic Republic founded on labour. Sovereignty belongs to the people and is exercised by the people in the forms and within the limits of the constitution."
By stating that Italy is a democratic republic, the article solemnly declares the results of theinstitutional referendum that took place on 2 June 1946 valid. Thestate is not the hereditary property of theruling monarch, but instead ares publica, belonging to everyone.
The people who are called to temporarily administer the republic are not owners, but servants; and the governed are notsubjects, butcitizens. And thesovereignty, that is the power to make choices that involve the entire community, belongs to the people, in accordance with the concept of ademocracy, from the Greekdemos (people) andkratìa (power). However, this power is not to be exercised arbitrarily bymob rule, but in the forms and within the limits established by therule of law.
The president of the Republic of Italy is thehead of state and represents the unity of the nation (art. 87 of the Constitution). The president serves as a point of connection between thethree branches as he is elected by the lawmakers, appoints the executive and is the president of the judiciary. The president is alsocommander-in-chief in time of war.
The president of the Republic of Italy is elected for seven years by Parliament in joint session, together with three representatives of each region, except for the Aosta Valley, which gets only one representative. These delegates are elected by their respectiveregional councils so as to guarantee representation to minorities. The election needs a wide majority that is progressively reduced from two-thirds to one-half plus one of the votes after the third ballot. The only presidents ever to be elected on the first ballot areFrancesco Cossiga andCarlo Azeglio Ciampi. Ciampi was replaced byGiorgio Napolitano, who was elected on 10 May 2006. While not forbidden by the law, no president had ever served two terms until 20 April 2013, when PresidentGiorgio Napolitano was re-elected.
According to theconstitution, any citizen who is 50 years old on the day of the election, and enjoys civil and political rights, can be elected president. The president cannot hold office in any otherbranch of power and the office's salary and privileges are established by law.
Among the powers of thepresident, they have the capacity to:[2]
Thepresident also presides over the High Council of the Judiciary and the Supreme Council of Defence. Usually, the president tries to stay out of the day-to-day politics, and tries to be an institutional guarantee for all those involved in the political process. The president is not responsible for the actions performed in the exercise of his duties, except forhigh treason and violation of theItalian constitution, for which the president can beimpeached by the parliament in joint session, with an absolute majority of its members.
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With article 48 of theconstitution, which guarantees theright to vote, the people exercise their power through theirelected representatives in the parliament.[2] TheItalian Parliament has abicameral system, and consists of theChamber of Deputies and theSenate of the Republic, elected every five years.
The Chamber of Deputies is elected bydirect anduniversal suffrage by voters who are eighteen or older. There are 400 deputies, eight of which are elected in theoverseas constituencies.[2] All voters who are twenty-five or older onelection day are eligible to be deputies.[2]
Thesenate is elected bydirect anduniversal suffrage by voters who are eighteen or older. There are 200 senators, four of whom are elected in theoverseas constituencies.[2] There are also a small number ofsenators for life, such asformer presidents and up to five citizens appointed by thepresident for having brought honor to thenation with their achievements. All voters who are forty or older onelection day are eligible to be senators.[2] Elections of senators for each region being based on a modified proportional representation system.
Theconstitution establishes the Government of Italy as composed of the president of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) and the cabinet's ministers. ThePresident of Italy appoints the prime minister and, on the prime minister's proposal, the subsequent ministers that form theircabinet.[2] The appointee is usually the leader of themajority coalition that won theelection (e.g.Berlusconi IV Cabinet), but they can also be a new leader emerging from a post-election leadership challenge within the majority coalition (e.g.Renzi Cabinet), or a person instructed by the president to form anational unity government in times of political crisis, such as in a coalition shift (e.g.Conte II Cabinet), or if enough politicians from the majority coalitionswitch parties (e.g.Monti Cabinet). In any scenario, the government must receive the confidence of bothhouses,[2] so the executive branch derives its legitimacy from theItalian Parliament and thegreat number ofpolitical parties forces the prime minister to bend to their will.
If themajority coalition no longer supports the government, the prime minister can be ousted with avote of no confidence, at which point the president can either appoint a new Prime Minister capable of forming a government with the support of Parliament, ordissolve parliament and call for new elections.Cabinet reshuffles are also possible in case specific ministers lack the support of the parliament, while the prime minister remains in charge. In thehistory of the Italian Republic, there have beentwenty legislatures (including theConstituent Assembly), forty-five consecutive premierships, and sixty-eight different cabinets.
Thelaw of Italy has a plurality of sources of production. These are arranged in a hierarchical scale, under which the rule of a lower source cannot conflict with the rule of an upper source (hierarchy of sources).[3] Theconstitution of 1948 is the main source.[4]
Theconstitution states thatjustice is administered in the name of the people and thatjudges are subject only to thelaw.[2] So thejudiciary is a branch that is completely autonomous and independent ofall other branches of power, even though theminister of justice is responsible for the organization and functioning of those services involved withjustice and has the power to originate disciplinary actions againstjudges, which are then administered by theHigh Council of the Judiciary, presided over by thepresident.[2]
Thejudiciary of Italy is based onRoman law, theNapoleonic Code and laterstatutes. It is based on a mix of theadversarial andinquisitorialcivil law systems, although theadversarial system was adopted in the appeal courts in 1988. Appeals are treated almost as new trials, and three degrees of trial are present. The third is a legitimating trial.
There is only partialjudicial review of legislation in theNorth-American sense. Judicial review can be enacted only under certain conditions, either it already being established byconstitutional law, or in theConstitutional Court, which can reject violating laws after judicial scrutiny. According to Article 134 of theconstitution, theConstitutional Court shall pass judgement on:[2]
The Constitutional Court is composed of 15 judges, one of which is the president of the Italian Constitutional Court elected from the court itself. One third of the judges are appointed by thepresident of the Italian Republic, one-third are elected by Parliament and one-third are elected by the ordinary and administrative supreme courts. The Constitutional Court passes on the constitutionality of laws, and is a post-World War II innovation.
The Constitutional Court was primarily established "for the protection of the legal order and only indirectly as an institution for the vindication offundamental rights" of individuals.[5] The court generally only has the power ofjudicial review over "laws and enactments having force of law issued by the State and Regions" (what is calledprimary legislation in civil-law systems) and does not have the power to review administration acts and regulations, or parliamentary rules.[5]
In November 2014, Italy accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of theInternational Court of Justice.[6]
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