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
Reproduction is authorised.
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