Constitutional Court of Italy

The Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic (Template:Langx) is the highest court of Italy in matters of constitutional law. Sometimes, the name Consulta is used as a metonym for it, because its sessions are held in Palazzo della Consulta in Rome.

History

The court is a post-World War II innovation, established by the republican Constitution of Italy in 1948, but it became operative only in 1955 after the enactment of the Constitutional Law n. 1 of 1953 and the Law n. 87 of 1953.<ref>Italian Government, "Norme sulla costituzione e sul funzionamento della corte costituzionale", published 14 March 1953, accessed 5 October 2023</ref> It held its first hearing in 1956.

Powers

According to Article 134<ref name=ItaConst>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> of the Italian Constitution, the Court shall pass judgement on:

• controversies on the constitutional legitimacy of laws issued by the State and Regions and when the Court declares a law unconstitutional, the law ceases to have effect the day after the publication of the ruling;
• conflicts arising from allocation of powers of the State and those powers allocated to State and Regions, and between Regions;
• charges brought against the President.

Additionally, a handful of constitutional laws were promulgated to regulate the powers and functionality of the Court during the years. The most important being constitutional law n. 1/1953, which, among other things, extends the power of reviewing and approving referendum's requests to the Court. (Art. 2)

The Constitutional Court passes on the constitutionality of laws with no right of appeal, as the Court is the highest court in relation to constitutional matters in Italy.

Since 12 October 2007, when the reform of the Italian intelligence agencies approved in August 2007 came into force, the pretext of state secret cannot be used to deny access to documents by the Court.

Composition

The Constitutional Court is composed of 15 judges for the term of service of nine years: 5 appointed by the President of Italy, 5 elected by the Parliament of Italy<ref>Parliament appoints judges with increasing delay: Giuseppe Salvaggiulo, "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}", in La Stampa, 3 October 2015 Template:In lang and Giampiero Buonomo, "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}", in Avanti online, 26 August 2015 Template:In lang.</ref> and 5 elected by the ordinary and administrative supreme courts. Of those elected by the supreme courts, 3 are elected by the Supreme Court of Cassation of Italy (penal and civil justice), one is elected by the Court of Auditors of Italy, and one by the Council of State of Italy (supreme administrative court). Candidates need to be either lawyers with twenty years or more experience, full professors of law, or (even former) judges of the Supreme Administrative, Civil and Criminal tribunals.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The members then elect the President of the Court. The President is elected from among its members in a secret ballot, by an absolute majority (8 votes in the case of a full court). If no person gets a majority, a runoff election between the two judges with the most votes occurs. The President of the Court appoints one or more vice-presidents to stand in for him in the event of his absence for any reason.

Current membership

Appointed by

Portrait	Name	Profession	Appointed by	Appointed on	Date sworn in	End of term	Type of membership
File:Giovanni Amoroso crop.jpg	Giovanni Amoroso (1949– )	Magistrate	Courts Template:Small	26 October 2017	13 November 2017	13 November 2026	President Template:Small
File:Francesco Viganò crop.jpg	Francesco Viganò (1966– )	University professor, lawyer	President Template:Small	24 February 2018	8 March 2018	8 March 2027	Vice president Template:Small
File:Luca Antonini (cropped).jpg	Luca Antonini (1963– )	University professor, lawyer	Parliament Template:Small	19 July 2018	26 July 2018	26 July 2027	Vice president Template:Small
File:Stefano Pettiti 2019.jpg	Stefano Petitti (1953–)	Magistrate	Courts Template:Small	28 November 2019	10 December 2019	10 December 2028	Judge
File:Buscema01 (cropped).jpg	Angelo Buscema (1952– )	Magistrate	Courts Template:Small	12 July 2020	15 September 2020	15 September 2029	Judge
File:Emanuela Navarretta 2025 (cropped).jpg	Emanuela Navarretta (1966– )	University professor	President Template:Small	9 September 2020	15 September 2020	15 September 2029	Judge
File:Maria Rosaria San Giorgio (cropped).jpg	Maria Rosaria San Giorgio (1952– )	Magistrate	Courts Template:Small	16 December 2020	17 December 2020	17 December 2029	Judge
File:Filippo Patroni Griffi.jpg	Filippo Patroni Griffi (1955– )	Magistrate	Courts Template:Small	15 December 2021	29 January 2022	29 January 2031	Judge
File:Marco D'Alberti (cropped).jpg	Marco D'Alberti (1948– )	University professor	President Template:Small	15 September 2022	20 September 2022	20 September 2031	Judge
File:Giovanni Pitruzzella (cropped).jpg	Giovanni Pitruzzella (1959– )	University professor, lawyer	President Template:Small	10 November 2023	14 November 2023	14 November 2032	Judge
File:Sciarrone Alibrandi 2024 (cropped).jpg	Antonella Sciarrone Alibrandi (1965– )	University professor	President Template:Small	10 November 2023	14 November 2023	14 November 2032	Judge
File:Roberto Cassinelli datisenato 2017.jpg	Roberto Cassinelli (1956– )	Lawyer	Parliament Template:Small	13 February 2025	19 February 2025	19 February 2034	Judge
File:Massimo Luciani 2025.jpg	Massimo Luciani (1952– )	University professor, lawyer	Parliament Template:Small	13 February 2025	19 February 2025	19 February 2034	Judge
File:Francesco Saverio Marini 2025.jpg	Francesco Saverio Marini (1973– )	University professor, lawyer	Parliament Template:Small	13 February 2025	19 February 2025	19 February 2034	Judge
File:Maria Alessandra Sandulli 2025.jpg	Maria Alessandra Sandulli (1956– )	University professor, lawyer	Parliament Template:Small	13 February 2025	19 February 2025	19 February 2034	Judge

Timeline

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See also

• List of presidents of the Constitutional Court of Italy

• List of judges of the Constitutional Court of Italy

References

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External links

• Official website