Italy
By Tyler Horton ‘26
Overview of Italy and Its Governmental Structures
Many things, such as pasta, the Renaissance, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa may come to mind when you think of Italy. The famously “boot-shaped” peninsula country is situated in Southern Europe, surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. The country also consists of the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, off the western coast of the peninsula. Italy has a population of 59.2 million people, making it the twenty-fifth most populated country in the world. The European country is home to numerous kinds of unique arts, food and wine, fashion, and history that has impacted the world as a whole with its culture. Out of these things, the country’s historical influence is arguably the most important. Italy, specifically the city of Rome, was the seat of the Ancient Roman Empire. The Romans introduced the world to new concepts of architecture, engineering, and most relevant to this showcase, concepts of law and governance.
Italy’s government is structured as a parliamentary republic with three subdivisions of power: executive, legislative, and judicial. One of the top government officials is the President of the Republic, currently Sergio Mattarella, who is also the head of state. The president is elected by a joint session of the Italian Parliament to a seven-year term. One of the most important duties of the president is to appoint the prime minister and create his cabinet. The prime minister is the head of government, currently Giorgia Meloni, who also serves as the president of the Council of Ministers (the Italian Cabinet). The prime minister holds most of the executive power in Italy by implementing and creating government policy. The national legislative body of Italy is the Italian Parliament. The bicameral Parliament consists of two legislative chambers: the Senate of the Republic and the Chamber of Deputies. Performing essentially the same functions, their goal is to create new laws for the country. These laws are created from bills that need to be passed in both chambers. Parliament is also charged with monitoring the government and holding them accountable, essentially a check and balance power. The judicial subdivision of power and the legal system will be the main subject of this showcase.
Sources of Law
Italy has experienced many changes to its national government over the past several centuries, but the main source of law the country abides by today is the Constitution of 1948. The Italian Constitution was adopted two years after the country adopted a referendum that abolished the monarchy in 1946. As mentioned in the previous section, the Italian government is separated based on governing powers; this principle of separation of powers is enshrined in the Constitution. The division of powers is not very strict since all three powers tend to interplay with one another. Similar to the United States’ Constitution, the Italian Consitution cannot be changed or altered unless there is a supermajority in both the Senate and Chamber of Deputies in Parliament. This amendment process is why the Constitution is labeled a ‘rigid’ constitution.
The Legal System, Criminal Law, and Civil Law
The independence of the Italian Judiciary allows it to be an autonomous legal system separate from the other governing powers. The courts are structured into a central hierarchy, with the Supreme Court of Cassation (Suprema Corta di cassazione) serving as the highest court. The Supreme Court of Cassastion serves as an appellate court and gives judgments only on matters concerning the law (both criminal and civil), not the specific details or evidence involved in a given case. Before a case can make its way to the highest court in the Italian legal system, it must be first tried in a tribunal court (tribunali). These courts of first instance are responsible for handling civil disputes and related legal matters. Some of the tribunal courts have jurisdictions that are specialized for subjects or specific matters as well as general jurisdiction. These subdivisions are assigned cases depending on the amount of money at stake or to areas such as, but not limited to, employment, family law, bankruptcy, and corporate property. Aside from tribunal courts, minor cases can be heard in courts overseen by Justices of the Peace, who are honorary magistrates. After the first instance courts, cases can be appealed to their respective appellate courts (Corti d’appello) for a first appeal. This is the only step in the appellate process before a case ends up at the Supreme Court for a final say.
Tribunal courts also handle criminal matters in addition to civil disputes, but they are not the sole criminal courts of the system. The first specialized courts are the juvenile courts of first instance, followed by juvenile division courts of appeal. As the term ‘juvenile’ suggests, these courts deal with cases involving criminal offences committed by minors (anyone under the age of eighteen). Supervisory courts (Tribunali di sorveglianza) and their offices are charged with overseeing prison sentences being enforced and the laws that govern sentencing. The first instance courts that deal with the most serious crimes and offences are the Assize courts (Corti di assise). Cases that go through these courts are directed to specialized appellate courts, the Assize courts of appeal (Corti di assise di appello). The Italian Constitution states in Article 102, sec 2, “Extraordinary or special judges may not be established. Only specialized sections for specific matters within the ordinary judicial bodies may be established, and these sections may include the participation of qualified citizens who are not members of the Judiciary”. The special courts mentioned above were already in effect before the Constitution was adopted, so they were exceptions to the Article. The civil law nature of the legal system is due to the historical influence of Roman law.
Rights and Liberties for Citizens
The Italian Constitution grants citizens several fundamental civil rights: freedom of speech and thought, right to a fair trial, protection of civil liberty, freedom of religion, freedom of home life, freedom of the press, etc. Italy is a constitutional democracy, so citizens also have a range of political rights. They can vote in elections when they reach the age of eighteen and even run in parliamentary elections at the age of twenty-five. Being a citizen of Italy also grants the rights that come with European Union (EU) citizenship. Italians can vote in EU elections for individuals from their country to represent them in the European Parliament. The Constitution also has protections for cultural and social rights: healthcare, welfare support, family life, children’s education, and freedom of arts and sciences.
Comparison to the U.S. Legal System
The structures of the Italian and United States governments are very similar in that they both have three separations of governing power. The United States federal legislature responsible for creating laws, Congress, is also a bicameral body; the House of Representatives and the Senate. Like in Italy, the judicial system in the United States is charged with examining and reviewing any law passed by Congress. This principle of checks and balances is at the heart of the United States and Italian governments. Both countries also have appellate courts in their legal systems where appeals can be heard by higher courts. In the United States, however, there are two routes for appeals to make their way to the Supreme Court: they start in U.S. district courts or state trial courts, compared to Italy, where appeals have multiple routes depending on the nature of the case.
The biggest difference between the two judicial systems is that Italy operates under a civil law system, whereas the United States utilizes common law principles and follows precedent. This is the reason for the way business itself is conducted differently in the courts and the roles of people who work in the courts. For starters, Italy does not have jury trials like the United States. Instead, all cases are solely decided by a judge or panel of judges. This leads to another difference between the systems: Italy has a more inquisitorial process than the adversarial system in the United States.
Current Issues and Cases in Italy
There has been a growing amount of concern surrounding human rights in Italy and the role of the government in it. Issues such as women’s rights and LGBTQIA+ rights have put Italy on the Human Rights Watch. Abortion is legal in Italy during the first trimester of pregnancy, but there have been impediments for women trying to obtain one. Parliament has passed measures allowing anti-abortion groups to get involved with counseling centers. These family-based centers are where many pregnant women go in search of guidance about their pregnancy and explore abortion options. In addition, healthcare professionals are starting to refuse to perform abortions due to their personal objections. LGBTQIA+-identifying Italians have experienced hate speech from politicians who have great influence in the political and social climates. The Italian Government has also had a poor response to the violence directed towards LGBTQIA+ people as the amount of violence continues to increase, especially bullying in schools. The Senate also passed legislation that puts in place criminal consequences for people seeking surrogacy beyond Italy, which will negatively impact same-sex couples wanting to have children.
Tyler Horton is a junior majoring in political science and criminal justice.
Sources
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