Italy New Constitution Part 4
He is elected for seven years, by secret ballot and a two-thirds majority (after the third ballot, an absolute majority is enough) by the parliament in joint session, to which are added, more than anything else symbolic, three delegates from each region, except for the Val d’Aosta, which sends only one. Must be an Italian citizen and be 50 years old; you do not need to be a member of parliament; he must take an oath before the assembled chambers; his office is incompatible with any other; he can be re-elected. In the event of his absence, the President of the Senate takes his place. The president of the republic, even if not protected by the inviolability previously due to the king, enjoys prerogatives, the main one of which is the irresponsibility enjoyed by the monarch as well; he is not responsible for the acts performed in the exercise of his functions, except for high treason or attack, i.e. willful violation, to the constitution, in which cases he is accused by the parliament in joint session and judged by the Constitutional Court, supplemented, for this purpose, by 16 elected members appointed by the parliament in joint session after each political election. The president’s irresponsibility is matched and sheltered by ministerial responsibility, for which every act, even discretionary, must be, under penalty of invalidity, countersigned by the proposing ministers, who assume responsibility for it. The acts having legislative value and others indicated by the law are also countersigned by the president of the council.
According to SUNGLASSESTRACKER, the government of the republic, a complex body, is made up of the president of the council and the ministers: the first is appointed by the president of the republic and in turn proposes the names of the ministers; together they constitute the council of ministers. The silence of the constitution on the undersecretaries must not, however, lead to believe that they are not part of the government, at least in a broad sense.
The prime minister, no longer called the head of the government, has the function of directing and guiding the general policy of the government, for which he is responsible above all in front of the parliament; he maintains the unity of political and administrative direction, but is no longer what he was, in the fascist system, the head of the government, arbiter and ruler not only of the executive power but also of the legislative power, in respect of which he had rights to various and decisive intervention, and that he was responsible only towards the king and not towards the chambers, while the ministers were responsible towards the king and towards him.
The government comes into operation with an oath, but is subject to a suspensive condition, that of corresponding to the will of the parliamentary majority in each chamber: that is, it must have the confidence of the chambers, which it is required to ask for it within ten days of its formation. Each chamber grants or revokes the confidence on a motivated motion and voted by roll call. The motion of no confidence must be signed by at least one tenth of the members of the chamber; it cannot be questioned for three days after its presentation. The vote against by one or both chambers on a government proposal does not imply a resignation obligation, but the government can always ask the question of trust.
Politically, the ministers are collectively responsible for the acts of the council of ministers and individually for those of their dicasteries. The members of the government are then personally liable for crimes committed in the exercise of their functions, and in this case they are indicted by the parliament in joint session and judged by the Constitutional Court, integrated as mentioned for the judgments against the President of the Republic. According to the statute, it was up to the chamber to accuse and to the senate, set up in the High Court of Justice, to judge.
According to the constitution, the government’s auxiliary bodies are the aforementioned national economy and labor council, newly established, made up of experts and representatives of the producer categories, technical consultancy body of the chambers and the government, provided with legislative initiative ; the Council of State and the Court of Auditors, constitutionally confirmed in their respective functions, jurisdictional, legal-administrative consultancy and control (see council; court, in this App.).
Particular emphasis in the constitution have the jurisdictional provisions concerning the organization (v. Judicial, law, in this App.) and on jurisdiction. In recognition of the very high importance, in the modern democratic state, of jurisdictional guarantees, the constitutional character of the judiciary is sanctioned, placing it as an autonomous and independent order from any other power. This constitutional character has been accentuated by entrusting the president of the republic with the presidency of the superior council of the judiciary (made up of two thirds of magistrates and one third of members elected by parliament in assembled chambers), which is responsible for the recruitments, assignments, promotions, discipline and office transfers of magistrates, while the Minister of Grace and Justice is responsible for what concerns the organization and functioning of judicial services.