Italy
The justice system of Italy
A regionalised unitary republic under the 1948 Constitution whose justice is entirely national — an independent judiciary that includes the prosecution, two orders of courts, and a Constitutional Court.
Facts on this page were checked against their sources on .
Italy is a parliamentary republic with a civil-law tradition, governed by the Constitution of 1948. Article 104 provides that "the judiciary is an independent branch of government and shall not be subject to any other", and establishes the High Council of the Judiciary (Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura), presided over by the President of the Republic, as the body that governs the magistracy.
The same idea, explained generally
- What is justice?
Justice is the principle that people should be treated according to rules that apply equally to everyone, decided by bodies that are authorised, constrained, and answerable. This guide explains what that means institutionally.
- What is the rule of law?
The rule of law is the principle that everyone, including the government, is subject to law that is public, applied equally, and interpreted by independent courts. This guide explains what it requires and what it does not.
- What do courts do?
Courts resolve disputes, test the state’s case against individuals, interpret law, and review public decisions. This guide explains those functions and why judicial independence is structural.
Sources
Sources
Constitution of the Italian Republic (1948) — official English translation
Corte costituzionale (Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic) · Legislation · 1948 · link verified 2026-07-26
The Constitutional Court's own official English translation (October 2023 edition), fetched as a PDF and text-extracted (confirmed by the research and verification passes; the Senate's English PDF was bot-walled, so this Court edition was substituted). Supports Art. 101 (justice administered in the name of the people; the judiciary subject only to the law), Art. 104 (the judiciary an independent branch; the High Council of the Judiciary/CSM), Art. 107 (the public prosecutor's guarantees), Art. 109 ("judicial authorities may directly avail themselves of the judicial police"), Art. 112 ("the public prosecutor shall have the obligation to initiate criminal proceedings" — mandatory prosecution), Art. 103 (the Council of State and administrative justice), Art. 116 (the five special-autonomy regions, with additional devolution over "justice" limited to the organizational requirements of the Justice of the Peace), Art. 117(2) — subparagraphs (l) "jurisdiction and procedural law; civil and criminal law; administrative justice", (h) "public order and security, save for local administrative police", (d) defence — establishing that all four justice functions are EXCLUSIVE State competence, and Arts. 134–135 (the Constitutional Court).
Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana (official gazette) · Legislation · 2025-10-30 · link verified 2026-07-26
The official gazette publication of the constitutional bill on the separation of the careers of judging and prosecuting magistrates, read directly. It records that the text was "approvato in seconda votazione a maggioranza assoluta, ma inferiore ai due terzi dei membri di ciascuna Camera" — approved on second reading by absolute majority but below the two-thirds threshold — so under Constitution Art. 138 it is published for the purpose of a possible confirmatory referendum and is NOT yet in force. Cited to record, neutrally and by attribution, that the reform (separation of careers, two councils of the judiciary, a separate High Disciplinary Court) is enacted-but-conditional, not current law; it is described in prose, not as a scheduled change, because its entry into force is contingent on a referendum whose date is not officially fixed.