A constitutional law, in the Italian legal system, is an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliame ...

that has the same strength as the Constitution of Italy. This means that in case of conflicts between the Constitution and a constitutional law, the latter normally prevails, according to the legal principle that "a later law repeals an earlier law" (''lex posterior derogat priori''). Constitutional laws that alter or abolish portions of the text of the Constitution are also called ''leggi di revisione costituzionale'' (laws amending the Constitution). They are equivalent to amendments to the Constitution of other legal systems (e.g., the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Procedure

The Constitution of Italy, as a rigid constitution, overrules other laws and cannot be repealed or amended by them. Article 138 of the Constitution provides for a special procedure for the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

to adopt constitutional laws, including laws to amend the Constitution. Compared to other systems with rigid constitutions, the procedure to amend the Constitution of Italy is among the easiest and is a variation of the ordinary legislative procedure. The ordinary procedure to adopt a law in Italy requires both houses of parliament to approve the law in the same text by a simple majority cast. Constitutional laws start by following the same procedure, but after being approved for the first time, they must be approved by both houses a second time, at least three months later. In the second reading, no new amendments to the bill may be proposed, but the bill must be approved or rejected in its entirety. The constitutional law needs to be approved by a majority in each house in its second reading. Depending on the results of the second vote, the constitutional law may then follow two different paths: * If the bill is approved by a qualified majority of two thirds of members in both houses, it can be immediately promulgated by the

President of Italy The president of Italy, officially denoted as president of the Italian Republic ( it, Presidente della Repubblica Italiana) is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity, and guarantees that Italian poli ...

and become law. * If the bill is approved by a majority of members in each house but less than the two-thirds majority, it must first be published in the Official Gazette, the official journal in which all Italian laws are published. Then, within three months after its publication, a constitutional

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

may be requested by 500,000 voters, five regional councils, or one fifth of the members of either house of parliament. If no constitutional referendum has been requested after the three months have elapsed, the bill can be promulgated and becomes law.

Constitutional referendum

If a constitutional referendum is requested, the bill must be approved by a majority of votes cast by the whole electorate to become law. No

quorum A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to '' Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...

is required and so the referendum turnout has no effect on its validity, unlike in other forms of

referendums in Italy A referendum, in the Italian legal system is a request directed to the whole electorate to express their view on a determined question. It is the main instrument of direct democracy in Italy. The Constitution of Italy only provides for four ty ...

. Four constitutional referendums have ever been held in Italy. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, the constitutional laws were approved. In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, they were rejected.

Limits

There are limits to the power of Parliament to amend the Constitution. One is established by Article 139 of the Constitution itself: the form of government of Italy, a

republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

, cannot be amended. That limit was introduced to protect the result of the institutional referendum in 1946 in which Italians voted to abolish the monarchy. That referendum had been held at the same time as the election of the

Constituent Assembly of Italy The Italian Constituent Assembly (Italian: ''Assemblea Costituente della Repubblica Italiana'') was a parliamentary chamber which existed in Italy from 25 June 1946 until 31 January 1948. It was tasked with writing a constitution for the Italia ...

. The phrase "republican form (of government)" in Article 139 has been interpreted broadly. It is read to mean that the

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...

office cannot be hereditary but also the principle of

popular sovereignty Popular sovereignty is the principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. Popular sovereignty, being a principle, does not imply any ...

is encapsulated. In other words, "republic" is interpreted to mean that the Italian Republic is also "democratic". The Constitutional Court has also stated in multiple judgments (starting with judgments no. 30 and 31 of 1971) that some principles contained in the Constitution are "supreme principles" (''principi supremi''), which cannot be repealed, even by amending the Constitution. Rights that the Constitution declares to be "inviolable" are examples of those supreme principles.Bin, Roverto and Pitruzella, Giovanni (2008), ''Diritto costituzionale,'' G. Giappichelli Editore, Turin, p. 326.

List

The following table lists all constitutional laws adopted by Parliament since the coming into effect of the Constitution of 1948, including those that were later rejected in constitutional referendums (marked in red). A particular category of constitutional laws is the special statutes of the

autonomous regions of Italy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...

. Since they are granted special conditions of autonomy, they are exceptions to the ordinary discipline of the Constitution, and special statutes may be adopted and amended only by constitutional laws. Those constitutional laws are marked in yellow in the table below. ;Note:

References

{{Reflist Constitution of Italy Law of Italy Government of Italy

Procedure

Constitutional referendum

Limits

List

See also

References