The Albertine Statute and the ‘paradox of reforms’: brief notes on the evolution of a “perpetual and irrevocable” Charter

Abstract

The article briefly examines the traditional characteristics of the ‘Albertine Statute’ as a constitutional charter, ‘perpetual and irrevocable’; subsequently, it highlights how the Albertine Statute will activate various evolutionary phases, despite its formal ‘fixity’ and the absence of its institutional legitimacy: in fact, in its adoption process there was an explicitly political pact between the Crown and the whole liberal movement. The ‘form of government’ and its evolutions – according to the Author – represent a possible ‘key’ to identify some ‘seasons’ of the statutory charter: so in the article, at the beginning of the statutory phase, it is argued that there was a ‘season’ undoubtedly a logic of functioning as a monarchical-constitutional in which the will of the King prevails in the political-institutional situations. The second ‘season’ of the form of government evolves towards the parliamentary model, only partially realized through the consolidation of the Legislative but rather through a strengthening of the Executive under the dual aspect of organization and regulatory instruments adopted. In conclusion, the article highlights how the ‘seasons of the Albertine Statute’ are not linear but identifiable through a kind of ‘stop and go back’.