Living in Italy - The System

Political system

Italy is a parliamentary Republic. Article 49 of the Italian Constitutions recognises the role of political parties, “All citizens have the right to freely associate in political parties in order to contribute by democratic methods to determine national policy”. The President of the Republic is elected by the Parliament in joint session, remains in office for 7 years and may be re-elected. A Parliament lasts for 5 years.

Administrative system 

Executive power in Italy is exercised by the Government, which is made up of the President of the Council, appointed by the President of the Republic, Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Undersecretaries and must have the confidence of both Chambers. The Parliament, which has legislative power, is made of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic.

Judicial system 

The ordinary Italian judicial system is divided into two main branches that are responsible for civil and criminal law respectively. The Giudice di pace [Justice of the Peace] is responsible for administering civil justice: dealing with cases of relatively low financial value; the Court (Tribunale): it operates with only one judge sitting (‘monocratic’ composition), within a given area, in civil matters it acts as a first degree jurisdictional body, for cases of higher financial value, and also as an appeal court against sentences handed down by the Justice of the Peace. For criminal proceedings, it acts as a first degree body (for crimes not dealt with exclusively by the Court of Assizes); in both civil and criminal cases, the decisions of the court as a first degree judgement may be contested before the Court of Appeal. In every Court of Appeal district, a court is set up for minors that deals specifically with under-18s. At least one Regional Administrative Court is set up in each region. Public order is maintained by the Arma dei Carabinieri (the Carabinieri Force), the Police, the Guardia di Finanza [Finance Police] and the Vigili Urbani [municipal police forces].

The Difensore Civico [public defender] is responsible for examining and reporting public claims against cases of poor administration within municipal departments.

Text last edited on: 02/2007

Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2006
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