Constitution of Italy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Italy |
 This article is part of the series: |
|
|
|
Other countries • Politics Portal |
The Constitution of Italy (Italian: Costituzione della Repubblica Italiana) is the supreme law of Italy. It was approved by the Constituent Assembly (Assemblea Costituente) on 22 December, 1947 453 to 62, with 3 canceled. It was also publicized on Gazzetta Ufficiale, 27 december 1947, n. 298. The Constituent Assembly was elected with the universal suffrage on 2 June, 1946 at the same time as the referendum on abolition of the monarchy. The constitution came into force on January 1, 1948, one century after the Statuto Albertino, or previous constitution, came into force.
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
We can group the forces that enliven the debate inside the assembly into three main trends: the christian democratic solidaristic one, the socialist-communist and the liberal (promoter of civil liberties, heir of the liberal tendencies of the nineteenth century). All of those tendencies agreed about refusing any authoritaristic choice, because they were deeply anti-fascist. Each party belonging to those trends worried about his future in the first election that there would have been after the promulgation of the Constitution and tried to insert in the constitutional act some regulations reflecting the opinions of the tendence they belonged to: the result was that, for example, some parts of the text refer much more to the Christian-democratic believes (like parts concerning marriage and family), some others, for further example, remind communist and socialist topics (like parts concerning workers rights).
Like many constitutions, only a few regulations are considered to be self-executing. The vast majority of the constitution requires enabling legislation, referred to as "accomplishment of constitution". This process has taken decades and some contend that because of various political pressures, it is still not finished.
We can define Italian Constitution from different points of view; Above all, regulations written in this text try to involve all problems of private and public life: from individual liberties to marriage, from work to government, and so on.
This act is written. The constitutional assembly, according to the continental law experiences, chose not to leave to customary law the control of public organs, like some countries do, especially in common law.
It's also extremely hard to modify the constitution: to take this act the parliament needs a large majority, and, in some cases, a further public referendum. On the other side, normal legislative acts taken by the parliament that are in contrast with the constitution are removed by the Constitutional Court, after which it's like they never existed.
It is divided into three main parts, Fundamental Principles (Italian: Principii Fondamentali), Part I: Rights and Duties of Citizens (Italian: Diritti e Doveri dei Cittadini), Part II: Organization of the Republic (Italian: Ordinamento della Repubblica) and Part III: Transitory and Final Provisions (Italian: Disposizioni transitorie e finali).
[edit] Further reading
- Livio Paladin, Diritto costituzionale, Padova, CEDAM, 1998
- Roberto Bin, Giovanni Pitruzzella, Diritto costituzionale, Torino, Giappichelli, 2005
[edit] See also
it:Costituzione della Repubblica italiana
[edit] Italian Constitution
Article 1: Form of State
(1) Italy is a democratic republic based on labor.
(2) The sovereignty belongs to the people who exercise it in the forms and limits of the constitution.
Article 2: Human Rights
The republic recognizes and guarantees the inviolable human rights, be it as an individual or in social groups expressing their personality, and it ensures the performance of the unalterable duty to political, economic, and social solidarity.
Article 3: Equality
(1) All citizens have equal social status and are equal before the law, without regard to their sex, race, language, religion, political opinions, and personal or social conditions.
(2) It is the duty of the republic to remove all economic and social obstacles that, by limiting the freedom and equality of citizens, prevent full individual development and the participation of all workers in the political, economic, and social organization of the country.
Article 4: Work
(1) The republic recognizes the right of all citizens to work and promotes conditions to fulfill this right.
(2) According to capability and choice, every citizen has the duty to undertake an activity or a function that will contribute to the material and moral progress of society.
Article 5: Local Autonomy
The republic, one and indivisible, recognizes and promotes local autonomy; it fully applies administrative decentralization of state services and adopts principles and methods of legislation meeting the requirements of autonomy and decentralization.
Article 6: Linguistic Minorities
The republic protects linguistic minorities by special laws.
Article 7: Relation between State and Church
(1) State and catholic church are, each within their own reign, independent and sovereign.
(2) Their relationship is regulated by the lateran pacts. Amendments to these pacts which are accepted by both parties do not require the procedure of constitutional amendments.
Article 8: Religion
(1) Religious denominations are equally free before the law.
(2) Denominations other than catholicism have the right to organize themselves according to their own by-laws, provided they do not conflict with the italian legal system.
(3) Their relationship with the state is regulated by law, based on agreements with their representatives.
Article 9: Research and Culture
(1) The republic promotes cultural development and scientific and technical research.
(2) It safeguards natural beauty and the historical and artistic heritage of the nation.
Article 10: International Law
(1) The legal system of italy conforms to the generally recognized principles of international law.
(2) Legal regulation of the status of foreigners conforms to international rules and treaties.
(3) Foreigners who are, in their own country, denied the actual exercise of those democratic freedoms guaranteed by the italian constitution, are entitled to the right to asylum under those conditions provided by law.
(4) Foreigners may not be extradited for political offences.
Article 11: Repudiation of War
Italy repudiates war as an instrument offending the liberty of the peoples and as a means for settling international disputes; it agrees to limitations of sovereignty where they are necessary to allow for a legal system of peace and justice between nations, provided the principle of reciprocity is guaranteed; it promotes and encourages international organizations furthering such ends.
Article 12: Flag
The flag of the republic is the italian tricolor: green, white, and red, in three vertical bands of equal dimensions.
[edit] Part I: Rights and Duties of Citizens
[edit] Title I: Civil Rights
Article 13: Personal Liberty
(1) Personal liberty is inviolable.
(2) No one may be detained, inspected, or searched nor otherwise restricted in personal liberty except by order of the judiciary stating a reason and only in such cases and in such manner as provided by law.
(3) As an exception, under the conditions of necessity and urgency strictly defined by law, the police may take provisional measures that must be reported within 48 hours to the judiciary and, if they are not ratified within another 48 hours, are considered revoked and remain without effect.
(4) Acts of physical and moral violence against persons subjected to restrictions of personal liberty are to be punished.
(5) The law establishes the maximum duration of preventive detention.
Article 14: Personal Domicile
(1) Personal domicile is inviolable.
(2) No one's domicile may be inspected, searched, or seized save in cases and in the manner laid down by law conforming to the guarantee of personal liberty.
(3) Verifications and inspections for public health and safety, or for economic and fiscal purposes are defined by law.
Article 15: Freedom of Correspondence
(1) Liberty and secrecy of correspondence and other forms of communication are inviolable.
(2) Limitations may only be imposed by judicial decision stating the reasons and in accordance with guarantees defined by law.
Article 16: Freedom of Movement
(1) Every citizen has the right to reside and travel freely in any part of the national territory except for limitations provided by general laws protecting health or security. No restriction may be imposed for political reasons.
(2) Every citizen is free to leave the territory of the republic and return to it except for obligations defined by law.
Article 17: Right of Assembly
(1) All citizens have the right to assemble peaceably and unarmed.
(2) For meetings, including those held in places to which the general public has access, no previous notice is required.
(3) For meetings held in public places previous notice must be given to the authorities, who may prohibit them only on the ground of proven risks to security or public safety.
Article 18: Freedom of Association
(1) Citizens have the right freely and without authorization to form associations for those aims not forbidden by criminal law.
(2) Secret associations and associations pursuing political aims by military organization, even if only indirectly, are forbidden.
Article 19: Freedom of Religion
Everyone is entitled to freely profess religious beliefs in any form, individually or with others, to promote them, and to celebrate rites in public or in private, provided they are not offensive to public morality.
Article 20: Religious Associations
For associations or institutions, their religious character or religious or confessional aims do not justify special limitations or fiscal burdens regarding their establishment, legal capacity, or activities.
Article 21: Freedom of Communication
(1) Everyone has the right to freely express thoughts in speech, writing, and by other communication.
(2) The press may not be controlled by authorization or submitted to censorship.
(3) Seizure is permitted only by judicial order stating the reason and only for offences expressly determined by the press law or for violation of the obligation to identify the persons responsible for such offences.
(4) In cases of absolute urgency where immediate judicial intervention is impossible, periodicals may be seized by the judicial police, who must immediately and in no case later than 24 hours report the matter to the judiciary. If the measure is not validated by the judiciary within another 24 hours, it is considered revoked and has no effect.
(5) The law may, by general provision, order the disclosure of financial sources of periodical publications.
(6) Publications, performances, and other exhibits offensive to public morality are prohibited. Measures of prevention and repression against violations are provided by law.
Article 22: Citizenship and Name
Nobody may be deprived of legal capacity, citizenship, or name for political reasons.
Article 23: Personal Services
Nobody may be forced to perform personal service or payment without legal provision.
Article 24: Right to be Heard in Court
(1) Everyone may bring cases before a court of law in order to protect their rights under civil and administrative law.
(2) Defense is an inviolable right at every stage and instance of legal proceedings.
(3) The poor are entitled by law to proper means for action or defense in all courts.
(4) The law defines the conditions and forms for reparation in the case of judicial errors.
Article 25: Defendant's Rights
(1) No case may be removed from a court, but must be heard as provided by law.
(2) No punishment is allowed except provided by a law already in force when the offence has been committed.
(3) Security measures against persons are only allowed as provided by law.
Article 26: Extradition
(1) A citizen may be extradited only as expressly provided by international conventions.
(2) In any case, extradition may not be permitted for political offences.
Article 27: Rights of the Accused
(1) Criminal responsibility is personal.
(2) The defendant may not be considered guilty until sentenced.
(3) Punishments may not contradict humanity and must aim at re-educating the convicted.
(4) Death penalty is prohibited except by military law in time of war.
Article 28: Responsibility of Public Officials
State officials and employees of other public bodies are directly responsible under criminal, civil, and administrative law for acts committed in violation of rights. Civil liability extends to the state and public bodies.
[edit] Title II: Ethical and Social Relations
Article 29: Marriage
(1) The familty is recognized by the republic as a natural association founded on marriage.
(2) Marriage entails moral and legal equality of the spouses within legally defined limits to protect the unity of the family.
Article 30: Parental Duties and Rights
(1) Parents have the duty and right to support, instruct, and educate their children, including those born out of wedlock.
(2) The law provides for the fulfillment of those duties should the parents prove incapable.
(3) Full legal and social protection for children born out of wedlock is guaranteed by law, consistent with the rights of other family members.
(4) Rules and limits to determine paternity are set by law.
Article 31: Family
(1) The republic furthers family formation and the fulfillment of related tasks by means of economic and other provisions with special regard to large families.
(2) The republic protects maternity, infancy, and youth; it supports and encourages institutions needed for this purpose.
Article 32: Health
(1) The republic protects individual health as a basic right and in the public interest; it provides free medical care to the poor.
(2) Nobody may be forcefully submitted to medical treatment except as regulated by law. That law may in no case violate the limits imposed by the respect for the human being.
Article 33: Freedom of Arts, Science and Teaching
(1) The arts and sciences as well as their teaching are free.
(2) The republic adopts general norms for education and establishes public schools of all kinds and grades
(3) Public and private bodies have the right to establish schools and educational institutes without financial obligations to the state.
(4) The law defining rights and obligations of those private schools requesting recognition has to guarantee full liberty to them and equal treatment with pupils of public schools.
(5) Exams are defined for admission to various types and grades of schools, as final course exams, and for professional qualification.
(6) Institutions of higher learning, universities, and academies have the autonomy to establish by-laws within the limits of state law.
Article 34: Education
(1) Schools are open to everyone.
(2) Primary education, given for at least eight years, is compulsory and free of tuition.
(3) Pupils of ability and merit, even if lacking financial resources, have the right to attain the highest grades of studies.
(4) The republic furthers the realization of this right by scholarships, allowances to families, and other provisions, to be assigned through competitive examinations.
[edit] Title III: Economic Relations
Article 35: Labor
(1) The republic protects labor in all its forms.
(2) It provides for the training and professional enhancement of workers.
(3) It promotes and encourages international treaties and institutions aiming to assert and regulate labor rights.
(4) It recognizes the freedom to emigrate, except for legal limitations for the common good, and protects italian labor abroad.
Article 36: Wages
(1) Workers are entitled to remuneration commensurate with the quantity and quality of their work, and in any case sufficient to ensure to them and their families a free and honorable existence.
(2) The law establishes limits to the length of the working day.
(3) Workers are entitled to a weekly day of rest and to annual paid holidays; they cannot relinquish this right.
Article 37: Equality of Women at Work
(1) Working women are entitled to equal rights and, for comparable jobs, equal pay as men. Working conditions habe to be such as to allow women to fulfill their essential family duties and ensure an adequate protection of mothers and children.
(2) The law defines a minimal age for paid labor.
(3) The republic establishes special measures protecting juvenile labor and guarantees equal pay for comparable work.
Article 38: Welfare
(1) All citizens unable to work and lacking the resources necessary for their existence are entitled to private and social assistance.
(2) Workers are entitled to adequate insurance for their needs in case of accident, illness, disability, old age, and involuntary unemployment.
(3) Disabled and handicapped persons are entitled to education and vocational training.
(4) These responsibilities are entrusted to public bodies and institutions established or supplemented by the state.
(5) Private welfare work is free.
Article 39: Trade Unions
(1) The organization of trade unions is free.
(2) No obligation may be imposed on trade unions except the duty to register at local or central offices as provided by law.
(3) Trade unions are only registered on condition that their by-laws lead to internal organization of democratic character.
(4) Registered trade unions are legal persons. Being represented in proportion to their registered members, they may jointly enter into collective labor contracts which are mandatory for all who belong to the respective industry of these contracts.
Article 40: Right to Strike
The right to strike is exercised according to the law.
Article 41: Freedom of Enterprise
(1) Private economic enterprise is free.
(2) It may not be carried out against the common good or in a way that may harm public security, liberty, or human dignity.
(3) The law determines appropriate planning and controls so that public and private economic activities may be directed and coordinated towards social ends.
Article 42: Property
(1) Property is public or private. Economic goods may belong to the state, to public bodies, or to private persons.
(2) Private ownership is recognized and guaranteed by laws determining the manner of acquisition and enjoymend and its limits, in order to ensure its social function and to make it accessible to all.
(3) Private property, in cases determined by law and with compensation, may be expropriated for reasons of common interest.
(4) The law establishes the rules of legitimate and testamentary succession and its limits and the state's right to the heritage.
Article 43: Expropriation
To the end of the general good, the law may reserve establishment or transfer, by expropriation with compensation, to the state, public bodies, or workers or consumer communities, specific enterprises or categories of enterprises of primary common interest for essential public services or energy sources, or act as monopolies in the preeminate public interest.
Article 44: Land
(1) For the purpose of ensuring rational utilization of land and establishing equitable social relations, the law imposes obligations on and limitations to private ownership of land, defines its limits depending on the regions and the various agricultural areas, encourages and imposes land cultivation, transformation of large estates, and the reorganization of productive units; it assists small and medium sized farms.
(2) The law favors mountainous areas.
Article 45: Cooperatives and Handicrafts
(1) The republic recognizes the social function of cooperation for mutual benefit free of private speculation. The law promotes and encourages its implementation with suitable provisions and ensures its character and purposes through proper controls.
(2) The law protects and promotes the development of handicrafts.
Article 46: Workers' Participation
In order to achieve the economic and social enhancement of labor and in accordance with the requirements of production, the republic recognizes the right of workers to collaborate, within the forms and limits defined by law, in the management of companies.
Article 47: Savings
(1) The republic encourages and protects savings in all its forms, regulates, coordinates and controls the provision of credit.
(2) It favors access savings for the purchase of homes, for worker-owned farms, and for direct or indirect investment in shares of the country's large productive enterprises.
[edit] Title IV: Political Rights
Article 48: Voting Rights
(1) All citizens, men or women, who have attained their majority are entitled to vote.
(2) Voting is personal, equal, free, and secret. Its exercise is a civic duty.
(3) The law defines the conditions under which the citizens residing abroad effectively exercise their electoral right. To this end, a constituency of italians abroad is established for the election of the Chambers, to which a fixed number of seats is assigned by constitutional law in accordance with criteria determined by law.
(4) The right to vote may not be limited except for incapacity, as a consequence of an irrevocable criminal sentence, or in cases of moral unworthiness established by law.
Article 49: Political Parties
All citizens have the right to freely associate in political parties in order to contribute by democratic methods to determine national policy.
Article 50: Petitions
All citizens may address petitions to the Chambers demanding legislative measures or presenting general needs.
Article 51: Public Offices
(1) Citizens of one or the other sex are eligible for public office and for elective positions under equal conditions, according to the rules established by law. To this end, the republic adopts specific measures in order to promote equal chances for men and women.
(2) The law may, regarding their right to be selected for public positions and elective offices, grant to those italians who do not belong to the republic the same opportunities as citizens.
(3) Anyone elected to public office is entitled to the time necessary for the fulfillment of the respective duties while keeping his or her job.
Article 52: Military Service
(1) The defense of the fatherland is the sacred duty of every citizen.
(2) Military service is compulsory within the limits and under the terms of the law. The fulfillment of military duties may not prejudice a citizen's position as an employee, nor the exercise of his political rights.
(3) The rules about armed forces must conform to the democratic spirit of the republic.
Article 53: Taxation
(1) Everyone has to contribute to public expenditure in proportion to their capacity.
(2) The tax system has to conform to the principle of progression.
Article 54: Loyalty to the Constitution
(1) All citizens have the duty to be loyal to the republic and to observe the constitution and the laws.
(2) Citizens entrusted with public functions must perform them with discipline and honor, and take an oath of office where required by law.
[edit] Part II: Organization of the Republic
[edit] Title I: Parliament
[edit] Section I: The Two Chambers
Article 55: Parliament
(1) The parliament consists of the House of Representatives and the senate.
(2) The parliament holds joint session only in cases defined by the constitution.
Article 56: The House of Representatives
(1) The house of representatives is elected by universal and direct suffrage.
(2) The number of representatives is six hundred and thirty, of which twelve are elected by the constituency of italians abroad.
(3) Eligible are voters who have reached the age of twenty-five on election day.
(4) Having set aside the seats assigned to the constituency of italians abroad, the distribution of seats among the constituencies is calculated by dividing the population of the last general census by six hundred and eighteen, and distributing the seats in proportion to the population of each constituency, based on the quotients and the largest remainders.
Article 57: The Senate
(1) The senate is elected on a regional basis except for the seats assigned to the constituency of italians abroad.
(2) Three hundred and fifteen senators are elected, of which six are elected by the constituency of italians abroad.
(3) No Region shall have fewer than seven senators; Molise has two senators and the Aosta Valley one.
(4) Having set aside the seats assigned to the constituency of italiens abroad, the distribution of seats among the regions is calculated proportionally to the population of the last general census, based on the quotients and the largest remainders.
Article 58: Elections for the Senate
(1) Senators are elected universally and directly by voters older than twenty-five years.
(2) Voters older than forty years are eligible to the senate.
Article 59: Senators for Life
(1) Anyone who was president of the republic is a senator for life unless waiving this privilege.
(2) The president may appoint as senators for life five citizens who have brought honor to the nation through their exceptional accomplishments in the social, scientific, artistic, and literary fields.
Article 60: Term
(1) The house of representatives and the senate are elected for five years.
(2) The term of each chamber may not be extended except by law and only in the case of war.
Article 61: Reelections
(1) The reelection of new chambers must take place within seventy days from the dissolution of the previous ones. The first session has to be take place no later than twenty days after elections.
(2) The previous chambers retain their powers until the new chambers meet.
Article 62: Sessions
(1) Sessions commence on the first days of february and october that are no holidays.
(2) Each chamber may be summoned in extraordinary session on the initiative of its speaker, the president of the republic, or of one third of its members.
(3) If a chamber is summoned for an extraordinary session, the other chamber also convenes.
Article 63: Speaker
(1) Each chamber elect a speaker and members of the speaker's office from among its members.
(2) The speaker and the speaker's office of the house of representatives preside when the parliament convenes in joint session.
Article 64: Rules of Procedures
(1) Each Chamber adopt its rules of procedure by a majority of its members.
(2) Sessions are public, but the chambers or the parliament in joint session may decide to sit in private.
(3) Decisions of the chambers and of the parliament require the presence of a majority of the members and the consent of a majority of those present, notwichtstanding special majorities required by the constitution.
(4) Government members, even if not members of the chambers, have the right to attend sessions and are required to be present if summoned. They have to be heard on their request.
Article 65: Ineligibility and Incompatibility
(1) Conditions of ineligibility or incompatibility with the office of deputy or senator are defined by law.
(2) Nobody may be a member of both chambers at the same time.
Article 66: Qualifications for Admission
Each chamber decide about the electoral admissibility of its members and about instances of ineligibility and incompatibility.
Article 67: Free mandate
Members of parliament represent the nation; they are free from imperative mandate.
Article 68: Indemnity, Immunity
(1) Members of parliament may not be called to answer for opinions expressed or votes cast in the exercise of their office.
(2) Members of parliament may not be subjected to searches of their person or homeshall without prior authorization by their chamber, nor arrested or otherwise deprived of personal freedom, nor kept in a state of detention, except on an irrevocable conviction or caught in the act of a crime for which arrest is mandatory.
(3) The same authorization is required to subject members of parliament to any form of interception of their conversations or communications, and in order to seize their mail or correspondence.
Article 69: Allowance
Members of parliament receive an allowance defined by law.
===== Section II: Lawmakin
Article 70: Legislative Power
Legislative power is exercised jointly by the chambers.
Article 71: Initiative
(1) The right to initiatives belongs to the government, to each member of the chambers, and to those organs and bodies assigned by constitutional law.
(2) The people may introduce public initiatives consisting of a bill drafted in articles and supported by at least 50,000 voters.
Article 72: Legislative Proceedings
(1) Every bill introduced to one of the chambers is first examined by a committee as defined by the rules of procedures and then adopted by the chamber article by article and with a final vote.
(2) The rules of procedure establish an abbreviated procedure for bills declared urgent.
(3) They may also establish when and how the examination and approval of bills may be delegated to committees, including standing committees, composed in a way reflecting the relative size of groups in parliament. In such cases, a bill must be submitted to the full chamber if the government, one-tenth of the chamber's members, or one-fifth of the committee so demand, or it must be submitted to the committee for a final vote preceded only by statements of vote. The rules of procedure define the manner in which the committees' deliberation is made public.
(4) The ordinary procedure for the deliberation and decisionmaking by each chamber has to be followed for bills on constitutional or electoral matter and for those delegating legislative power or authorizing the ratification of international treaties or approving the budgets and the final balance.
Article 73: Promulgation
(1) Laws are promulgated by the president within a month after having been adopted.
(2) If each chamber declares a bill urgent with a majority of its members, it has to be promulgated within the time set in the bill.
(3) Laws have to be published immediately after they were promulgated; they enter into force on the fifteenth day after their publication unless the laws establish a different time.
Article 74: Request for New Deliberation
(1) Before promulgation, the president may ask for further deliberation by message to the chambers giving the reasons for such request.
(2) The law has to be promulgated if the chambers adopt the bill once more.
Article 75: Referendum
(1) When requested by 500,000 voters or by five regional councils, a popular referendum decides on total or partial repeal of a law or other acts with legal force.
(2) No such referenda are allowed for tax or budget laws, amnesties, pardons, or ratification of international treaties.
(3) Citizens entitled to vote for the house of representatives may also participate in a referendum.
(4) The referendum succeeds if a majority of those eligible have participated and if the proposal has received a majority of the valid votes.
(5) The law establishes procedures for referenda.
Article 76: Delegation of Legislative Power
Legislative power may not be delegated to the government unless parliament specifies principles and criteria of guidance, and only for limited time and well-specified subjects.
Article 77: Law Decrees
(1) The government may not issue decrees with the force of law unless empowered by a proper delegation of the chambers.
(2) As an exception by necessity and urgency, government may issue provisional measures with the force of law and submits them on the same day to the chambers for confirmation; if the chambers are not in session, they have to be summoned for that purpose within five days.
(3) Legal decrees lose effect at the date of issue if they are not confirmed within sixty days of their publication. However, chambers may sanction rights and obligations arising out of decrees are not confirmed.
Article 78: State of War
Chambers are competent to declare war and assign the necessary powers to government.
Article 79: Amnesty and Pardon
(1) Amnesties and pardons may be granted by a law which must be adopted both article by article and in its entirety by two thirds of the members of each chamber.
(2) A law granting amnesty or pardon has to establish time limits for its enforcement.
(3) In no instance may amnesty or pardon be extended to offences committed after the bill has been introduced.
Article 80: Ratification of Treaties
Chambers ratify by law international treaties which are of political nature, provide for arbitration or judicial regulation, imply modifications of the territory, impose financial burdens, or result in modifications of the laws.
Article 81: Budgets
(1) For each year, chambers are voting the budget and final balance submitted by the government.
(2) Temporary execution of the budget may not be granted except by law and for periods of no more than four months altogether.
(3) In the budget law, no new taxes or expenditures may be adopted.
(4) All other laws implying new or additional expenditures must define the means to cover them.
Article 82: Inquiries
(1) A chamber may start inquiries into matters of public interest.
(2) It therefore appoints a committee composed of its members in proportion to the size of the groups in parliament. The committee of enquiry investigates and examines the matters carrying the same powers and limitations as the judiciary.
[edit] Title II: The President of the Republic
Article 83: Election of the President
(1) The president is elected in joint session of parliament.
(2) Three delegates from every region, elected by the regional councils in a way guaranteeing minority representation, participate in the election. The Aosta Valley is represented by one delegate.
(3) Presidential elections, conducted by secret ballot, require a two-thirds majority of the assembly. After the third ballot a majority of the members is sufficient.
Article 84: Eligibility, Incompatibility, Allowance
(1) Any citizen over fifty years enjoying civil and political rights is eligible for president.
(2) The presidency is incompatible with any other office.
(3) Remunerations and endowments of the president are defined by law.
Article 85: Presidential Term
(1) The presidential term is seven years.
(2) For the election of a new president, the speaker of the house of representatives summons parliament in joint session with regional delegates thirty days before the end of term.
(3) If the parliament is dissolved within three months of end of term, the new chambers elect the president within fifteen days of their first meeting. Meanwhile, the former president continues to be in power.
Article 86: Substitute of the President
(1) If the president is unable to perform his duties, they are carried out by the speaker of the senate.
(2) In the case of permanent inability, death, or resignation of the president, the speaker of the house of representatives calls presidential elections within fifteen days unless more time is needed because the chambers are dissolved or their term is expiring within three months.
Article 87: Presidential Duties
(1) The president is head of state and represents the unity of the nation.
(2) The president may send messages to parliament.
(3) He calls parliamentary elections and sets the date of their first meeting.
(4) He authorizes the government's legislative initiatives.
(5) He promulgates laws and issues decrees with the force of law as well as government regulations.
(6) He call a referendum when provided for by the constitution.
(7) He appoints state officials as provided by the laws.
(8) He accredits and receives diplomatic representatives, ratifies international treaties once they are authorized by parliament, provided parliamentary approval is necessary.
(9) He is the commander of the armed forces and chairman of the supreme defense council constituted by law; he declares war according to the decision of the parliament.
(10) He chairs the superior council of the judiciary.
(11) He has the power to grant pardons and commute punishments.
(12) He confers the honors of the republic.
Article 88: Dissolution of the Chambers
(1) The president may dissolve one or both chambers after having consulted their speakers.
(2) He may not exercise this power during the last six months of his term, provided this period does not coincide partly or entirely with the last six months of the term of chambers.
Article 89: Countersignature
(1) Acts of the president are void unless countersigned by the ministers who are responsible for and submitting it.
(2) Acts with the force of law and other acts as defined by law also need to be countersigned by the prime minister.
Article 90: Presidential Indemnity
(1) The president may not be held responsible for exercising his duties, except for high treason and attempts to overthrow the constitution.
(2) In these cases, he must be impeached by parliament in joint session by a majority of its members.
Article 91: Oath of Loyalty
The president, prior to taking office, has to swear before parliament in joint session an oath of allegiance to the republic and the constitution.
==== Title III: The Government
[edit] Section I: The Council of Ministers
Article 92: Executive Power
(1) The government of the republic consists of the prime minister and the ministers jointly constituting the council of ministers.
(2) The president appoints the prime minister and, on his advice, the ministers.
Article 93: Oath
The prime minister and the ministers, prior to taking office, are sworn in by the president.
Article 94: Vote of Confidence
(1) Government has to enjoy the confidence of both chambers.
(2) Confidence is granted or withdrawn by each chamber on a reasoned motion by vote using a roll-call.
(3) The government has to appear before each chamber no later than ten days after its appointment to get a vote of confidence.
(4) The rejection of a government proposal by a chamber does not force government resignation.
(5) The request for a vote of no-confidence requires the signatures of at least one-tenth of the members of either chamber and is not debated until three days after it has been filed.
Article 95: Responsibilities
(1) The prime minister conducts and is responsible for the general policy of the government. He ensures the unity of general political and administrative policies, promoting and coordinating the activities of the ministers.
(2) The ministers are jointly responsible for decisions of the council of ministers and individually for those of their ministries.
(3) Rules concerning the role of the prime minister and the number, responsibilities
