The constitutional revisions in Italy from 1948 to the present day

Abstrakt

This report has the aim of offering a picture of principal constitutional revisions carried out in Italy under republican Constitution, and of the most important among those that have been tried but not finalized, using as a reading key the principal interpretative problems posed by art. 138 Cost. The first question is about the systematic setting of the act named “constitutional revision law” in respect of the category of the “other constitutional laws”, also textually mentioned in the said constitutional provision. It is controversial if this difference has prescriptive or merely descriptive value. According to the first theory, supported by a prestigious but minor doctrine, only the constitutional revision laws could permanently amend the text of the Chart, while other constitutional laws would not be allowed to introduce implied changes. Under this respect, the objective pursued here is putting into light which one of this two perspective has been followed in practice. Then, on the field of contents, the praxis analysis will be led taking into consideration the vexata quaestio whether organic constitutional reforms are allowed or not, assuming that constitutional changes must be limited to punctual amendments. Once that the distinction between the two hypotheses has been clarified, which is really not easy because of some uncertain points, we will try to put into one or the other the main constitutional revisions carried out or attempted in republican history. In the debate on this theme, a particular relevance is attributed to the possibility of applying to constitutional referendum the limit about the necessary homogeneity of the question posed to electoral body in order to preserve the freedom of vote protected by art. 48 Cost., as indicated by the Constitutional court for abrogative referendum; which for someone would imply the prohibition of organic constitutional reforms or the need to create separate homogeneous questions for the referendum on different parts of the constitutional revision law approved by the Parliament. As for the making process of constitutional revision laws, the attention will focus mainly on the possibility of introducing procedures that derogate the one described in art. 138 Cost. basing on ad hoc constitutional laws regularly approved following the cited article. On that point, it will be shown, in the framework of not univocal outputs of doctrinal reflection, if and to what extent in the republican history there have been revisions or revision’s attempts based on derogative procedural disciplines.