Constitutional Court of Italy

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Italian Republic
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The Constitutional Court of Italy (Italian: Corte costituzionale della Repubblica Italiana) is a supreme court of Italy, the other being the Court of Cassation.

The Constitutional Court is composed of 15 judges: one-third appointed by the President, one-third elected by Parliament, and one-third elected by the ordinary and administrative supreme courts. The members then elect the President of the Court from among its members in a secret ballot, by absolute majority (that is, eight votes in the case of a full court), and if necessary, a run-off election between the two judges with the most votes after the second ballot. One or two Vice-Presidents, appointed by the President of the Court, stand in for the President in the event of his absence for any reason. The constitutional court passes on the constitutionality of laws, and there is no right of appeal on these decisions.

The court is a post-World War II innovation. Its powers, volume, and frequency of decisions are not as extensive as those of the U.S. Supreme Court. Since 12 October 2007, when reform of the Italian intelligence agencies approved in August 2007 came into force, the Court may not be denied access to documents under the pretext of state secret.

1 Authority
2 Composition
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Authority

Its role, powers and composition are defined in Section I (Constitutional guarantees) of Title VI of the Constitution.

Article 134:

The Constitutional Court shall pass judgment on:

Controversies on the constitutional legitimacy of laws and enactments having the force of law issued by the State and the regions;

Conflicts arising from allocation of powers of the State and those allocated to State and regions, and between regions;

Accusations made against the President of the Republic, according to the provisions of the Constitution.

Article 135:

The Constitutional Court shall be composed of fifteen judges, a third nominated by the President of the Republic, a third by Parliament in joint sitting and a third by the ordinary and administrative supreme courts.

The judges of the Constitutional Courts shall be chosen from among judges, including those retired, of the ordinary and administrative higher courts, from full university professors of law and lawyers with at least twenty years practice.

Judges of the Constitutional Court shall be nominated for nine years, beginning in each case from the day of their swearing in, and they may not be reappointed.

At the expiry of his time the constitutional judge shall cease his appointment and the exercise of the functions thereof.

The Court shall elect from among its members, in accordance with the rules established by law, a President who shall remain in office for three years and may be reelected, respecting in all cases the expiry term for constitutional judges.

The Constitutional Court of Italy in Palazzo della Consulta, is one of the Quirinal Hill government buildings in Rome.

The office of constitutional judge shall be incompatible with membership of parliament, of a regional council, the exercise of the profession of lawyer and with every appointment and office indicated by law.

In impeachment of the President of the Republic, apart from the ordinary judges of the Court, there shall also be sixteen members chosen by lot from among a list of citizens having the qualification necessary for election to the Senate, which the Parliament prepares every nine years through election using the same procedures as those in appointing ordinary judges.

Article 136:

When the Court declares the constitutional illegitimacy of a law or enactment having the force of law, the law ceases to have effect from the day following the publication of the decision.

The decision of the Court shall be published and communicated to the Houses and to the regional councils concerned, to that, wherever they deem it necessary, they shall act in conformity with constitutional procedures.

Another view of the Constitutional Court

Article 137:

A constitutional law shall establish the conditions, the forms, the terms of proposability of judgments on constitutional legitimacy, and the guarantees of the independence of the constitutional judges.

Ordinary laws shall establish the other necessary provisions necessary for the constitution and the functioning of the Court.

Against the decision of the Constitutional Court no appeals are allowed.