CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY OF THE NORTH

DRAFT CONSTITUTION FOR THE POLITICAL COMMUNITY OF THE PEOPLES OF THE NORTH

DECLARATION
of Self-determination, Sovereignty, and Association

The peoples of the North of Italy who live in the following Regions:

• Emilia
• Friuli
• Liguria
• Lombardia
• Marche
• Piemonte
• Romagna
• Toscana
• Trentino-Alto Adige Südtirol
• Umbria
• Valle d'Aosta
• Veneto
• Venezia Giulia

in the full and responsible awareness of belonging to a highly integrated multi-regional area, though in the recognized and respected diversity of each of the single territories of which it is composed;

in the full and responsible awareness that it already forms a natural, cultural, socio-economic Community, founded on a shared inheritance of values, of culture, of history, and on similar social and economic conditions;

and desiring to ensure their full and active participation in the ongoing process of economic, social, cultural and political integration into the European Union;

express the most profound concern for the very grave moral, institutional, and political crisis which for years has been afflicting the Italian Republic, and whose resolution appears indispensable for society and the political institutions, above all for the periphery and the local territorial councils.

They recognize as fundamental political principles:

• the human rights of women and men, seen both as single individuals and as members of natural, cultural, territorial, and socio-economic groups in which they are formed, live and produce;
• the inalienable sovereign power of the people and their right to self-determination;

wishing to renew and modernize the Constitution of the Republic of Italy which came into force on 1st January 1948 and is still in force today, in accordance with the radically changed needs of the people, he citizens, and of producers;

considering that efforts at constitutional revision begun in 1984 by the Parliament of the Republic of Italy with the Bicameral Commission presided by Hon. Aldo Bozzi and further pursued by means of several different instruments, both parliamentary and governmental, in the course of twelve full years, has not yielded any results;

in the belief that the sovereign people must in any case and always be able to express itself, also through propositional popular consultations for the improvement and the progress of the institutions of popular representation;

in the belief that without the active initiative and participation of the people and the citizens in the redefinition of the pact existing between them, the political life of the Italian Republic is destined to undergo further degradation such gravity as to greatly erode the liberties, the property, and the security of individual citizens and their Communities;

for these reasons they solemnly proclaim:

that the cultural, social, economic, and political Community in which they live is made by all women and men which inhabit it and who every day nourish it and make it strong and dignified with their work and their sacrifices;

who, as a consequence, with full respect for all other peoples, have the right and the duty to affirm their freedom of choice with respect to their own future and their own forms of political, social, and institutional organization;

they likewise affirm:

the desire to endow themselves with all the constituent sovereign powers of a new political Community which will peacefully cooperate with all other Communities of the Italian Republic and the European Union. Therefore, they ask, in the democratic and shared form of a propositional referendum to submitted to the vote of the entire political Community of the people of the North of Italy, a guideline founded on the following Project for the Constitution of the political Community of the people of the North of Italy;

the desire to establish this Community on two fundamental principles:

the Sovereignty of the peoples;

the Association of the new Political Community to other similar political, socio-economic, and institutional entities which they augur will be formed in the Italian area and in the community of Europe.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT

PREAMBLE

By virtue of the principle of self-determination of peoples, solemnly sanctioned in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference, the natural, cultural, social, and economic Community of the peoples of the North, of Emilia, Friuli, Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Piemonte, Romagna, Toscana, Trentino-Alto Adige Südtirol, Umbria, Valle d'Aosta, Veneto, Venezia Giulia, declare and affirm the will to constitute themselves in the political Community of the peoples of the North of Italy, sovereign and bound by the following Constitution.

SPECIAL MEASURE

The political Community of the peoples of the North is committed to modifying, in a negotiated and fair way, the norms contained in this Constitutional Text to conform them to such associating agreements as shall be stipulated with other political Communities of the Italian Republic and the European Union. In any case, all modifications will be submitted a popular referendum.
The representatives elected to the Parliament of the Italian Republic are committed to adopting the principles contained in this text within the framework of a federal reform of the present Constitution.

CONSTITUTION

ART. 1 The Republic is founded on human rights and on the right of self-determination of peoples.
Its fundamental values are individual liberty and solidarity amongst citizens.

ART. 2 Sovereignty resides in the entirety of the citizens. It is exercised by the people either directly, in the ways determined by the Constitution, or through the three separate and distinct powers, the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial.

ART. 3 The Republic is organized in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, for individual citizens and social formations, for public territorial and non-territorial, national and international, entities.

ART. 4 The Republic consists of the following Regions:

• Emilia
• Friuli
• Liguria
• Lombardia
• Marche
• Piemonte
• Romagna
• Toscana
• Trentino - Alto Adige Südtirol
• Umbria
• Valle d'Aosta
• Veneto
• Venezia Giulia

ART. 5 Each Region has its own internal juridical order subject to the Constitution.
The Regions have the power to make laws with respect to all matters not reserved to the exclusive legislative power of the Federal Republic.
The laws of the Republic may assign to the Regions the powers to issue norms for their implementation.
The Government of the Republic may place the question of legitimacy before the Constitutional Court when it believes that a regional norm exceeds the legislative power of the Region.

ART. 6 The Regions have direct relations with foreign States and with international organizations with respect to matters within their legislative power.

ART. 7 A Region may not impose customs duties on imports or exports or on transit between other Regions.
A Region may not adopt provisions which in any way impede the free circulation of persons and things between the Regions.
No Region may limit the right of the citizens to exercise their profession, employment, or work in any part of the Federal territory.

ART. 8 Two or more Regions may deliberate their merger upon verification of the will of the citizens through a binding referendum in the individual Regions.
The formation of new Regions by division of existing Regions is implemented by the decision of the Regions in question upon verification of the will of the citizens resident in the territories which may constitute the new region, through a binding referendum.
The formation of new Regions by aggregation of territories which are part of other Regions is implemented by the decision of the Regions in question upon verification of the will of the citizens resident in the territories which may constitute the new Region, through a binding referendum.

ART. 9 A territory with a number of inhabitants not less than one million, or one-hundred thousand if belonging to a recognized ethnic group, has the right to secede, constituting itself into an independent State or joining another State, through a referendum, requested by not less than one-fourth of the resident citizens, and approved by the majority of citizens having voting rights.

ART. 10 Local territorial bodies have full legislative autonomy in the institutional and administrative sectors, as well as financial autonomy, in terms of receipts and expenses, and statutory and organizational autonomy. They are also self-governing in the form of direct and representative democracy.

ART. 11 All citizens have equal social dignity and are equal before the law without regard to race, sex, language, religion, political opinion, and personal and social conditions.

ART. 12 Italian is the official language of the Federal Republic. Languages of individual Regions and communities have equal official status in their respective territories.

ART. 13 All religious faiths are free and equal before the law. They have the right to organize themselves according to their statutes insofar as they do not contrast with the Federal juridical order. Their relations with the Republic are regulated by law on the basis of agreements with their respective representatives.

ART. 14 The Federal juridical law conforms to the norms of generally recognized international law and to European Union law. The juridical condition of foreigners is regulated by the law in accordance with international norms and treaties. The foreigner whose effective exercise of democratic liberties guaranteed by this Constitution is impeded in his country has the right to asylum in the territory of the Republic according to conditions established by law. The extradition of foreigners for political crimes is not permitted, except for crimes of genocide.

ART. 15 The Republic repudiates war as an instrument of offense to the liberties of other peoples and as a means of resolving international controversies For this reason the Republic adheres to the principles and values of the United Nations and it commits its policy to realize them. The Republic collaborates in the development of the European Union towards the realization of the United States of Europe.

ART. 16 Personal liberty is inviolable. No form of personal detention, inspection, or search is allowed, nor any other restriction of personal liberty, without a specific act of the judicial authority and only in the cases and ways prescribed by law. In exceptional cases of necessity and urgency, precisely indicated by law, the public security authorities may adopt provisory measures which must be communicated within forty-eight hours to the judicial authority, and if this latter does not validate them within the successive forty-eight hours, they are automatically revoked and remain deprived of any effect. Any physical and moral violence against the person in any way placed under restriction of liberty is punished. The law establishes the maximum limit of preventive incarceration.

ART. 17 The domicile is inviolable. No inspections or searches or seizures may be executed except in cases and ways established by law according to the guarantees prescribed for the protection of personal liberty. Controls and inspections for reasons of health and public safety or for economic and fiscal reasons are regulated by special laws.

ART. 18 The freedom and confidentiality of correspondence and every other form of communication is inviolable. They may only be limited by acts of the judicial authority with guarantees established by law.

ART. 19 Everyone has the right to gather peacefully and without arms.
For gatherings in public places notice must be given to the authorities which may prohibit them only for compelling reasons of security and public safety.
For all other gatherings, including those in places open to the public, no notice is required.

ART. 20 Everyone has the right to freely associate without authorization for purposes which are not prohibited to individuals by penal law. Secret associations are prohibited as well as those which pursue, even indirectly, political ends through militaristic organizations.

ART. 21 Everyone has the right to freely profess his own religious faith in any form, individual or in community, to propagate it, and to exercise it in private or in public as long as its rites are not contrary to public morals.

ART. 22 The ecclesiastical nature and an association's or institution's purposes for religion or worship may not be the cause of special legislative limitations, nor of special tax burdens for its constitution, juridical status and each type of activity.

ART. 23 Everyone has the right to express his own thought by means of speech, written words, images, and through every other means of communication with limits only as prescribed by law for the protection of personal rights. No expression of thought may be subject to censure. The law establishes adequate provisions to repress expressions which are contrary to public morals as well as to prevent and repress those expressions which may be detrimental to minors in the formation of their personality and culture. Within the limits and ways established by law, everyone has the right to seek, transmit, and receive information.
The gathering and use of information which implies discrimination or violations of the fundamental personal rights are prohibited.
The Republic guarantees pluralism in the communications system. The law provides for regulations which prevent monopolies. It establishes the disclosure of ownership and the means of financing of the press and of radio and television broadcasters. It defines the methods for the formation and the exercise of radio and television broadcasting on the part of private entities. It disciplines the right to rectify incorrect information and the conditions for access by individuals and groups to public radio and television service.
The press may not be subject to authorizations, registrations, procedures, or other obligations, except those imposed by tax laws and work protection, which limit, bind, or retard in any way the possibility of free expression of thought. The sequester of the means of communication may be executed only by an act of the judicial authority in case of crimes as prescribed by law. In these cases, when there is absolute urgency and it is not possible to have a timely judicial act, the sequester may be executed by judicial police officials who must immediately, and never
after twenty-four hours, inform the judicial authority. If the sequester is not validated within the successive twenty-four hours, it is considered revoked and deprived of any effect.

ART. 24 No one may be deprived, for political reasons, of his judicial rights, his citizenship, and his name.

ART. 25 No personal or financial service may be imposed except as provided for by law.

ART. 26 Everyone may take recourse to the judiciary for the defense of his own rights and his legitimate interests. The right to defense is inviolable during each stage and degree of procedure. The right to defense for those without financial means is ensured in every jurisdiction by specific institutes. The law determines the conditions and the methods of compensation for judicial errors.

ART. 27 No one may be prevented from appealing to the proper court of justice preconstituted by law.
No one may be punished except on the basis of a law which is in force before the act committed. No one may be placed under security measures except in cases proscribed by law.

ART. 28 The extradition of a citizen may be allowed only where it is expressly prescribed by international convention. In no case may it be allowed for political crimes, except for crimes of genocide.

ART. 29 Penal responsibility is personal. The accused is considered innocent until the definitive sentence of guilty. Punishments may not consist of treatments which are contrary to the principles of humanity and must tend toward the re-education of the convicted. The death penalty is not allowed.

ART. 30 State and public entity administrators and employees are directly responsible, in accordance with penal, civil and administrative law, for the acts committed in violation of legitimate rights and interests. In these cases, the civil responsibility is extended to the State and to the public entities.

ART. 31 For the assignment to the highest Federal offices a criterion must be adopted which is based on the most adequate ratio of representatives coming from all the Regions of the Republic. The local managers of public Federal offices must, by law, come from the same Region as the office to which they are appointed to is located. The law determines the methods of application.

ART. 32 The Republic recognizes the rights of the family as a natural social unit founded on matrimony. Matrimony is based on the moral and juridical equality of the spouses.

ART. 33 It is the duty and the right of parents to maintain, instruct, and educate their children, even if born outside of matrimony. In cases of incapacity of the parents, the law provides the implementation of these tasks. To children born outside of matrimony, the law ensures every juridical and social protection compatible with the rights of members of legitimate families.

ART. 34 Health is protected as a fundamental right of the individual and interest of society. Free treatment is guaranteed to the destitute. No one may be obligated to undergo a specific health treatment, except as provided for by law. In no case may the law violate the limits imposed by respect for the human person.

ART. 35 Art and science are free as is their teaching.

ART. 36 School is open to everyone. Basic instruction, lasting at least ten years, is mandatory and free. Public and private entities have the right to institute schools and educational institutes. The capable and the meritorious, even if deprived of financial means, have the right to reach the highest levels of study. This right is made effective with study grants, family assistance, and other provisions, which must be attributed through competitive exams.

ART. 37 The right to work is protected in all its forms and applications.

ART. 38 The economy of the Republic is based on the existence and guaranty of the free market, on work in all its forms, and on the free economic initiative of the citizens. The law establishes the regulations which discipline and guarantee the effective and continuous exercise of competition and free access to markets. The community guarantees the training and professional advancement of workers; it promotes and favors international agreements and organizations to affirm and regulate the rights of free initiative and of work; it recognizes the free flow of capital and assets internally and externally.

ART. 39 The worker has the right to compensation which in proportion to the quantity and quality of his work, and in any case such as to ensure for himself and his family a free and dignified existence.

ART. 40 Workers of both sexes have the same rights and must receive equal pay for equal work. The conditions of work must allow women to fulfill their essential maternal function, ensuring to the mother and the child a special and adequate protection. The community protects the work of minors with special regulations and guarantees to them the right of equal pay for equal work.

ART. 41 Every citizen unable to work and deprived of the necessary means to a livelihood has the right to support and social assistance. Workers have the right to the adequate provision and insurance for their vital needs in case of accident, sickness, invalidity and old age, and involuntary unemployment.
Individuals with physical or mental disabilities have the right to receive education and professional training.
Private health care can be freely organized. The citizens have the freedom of choice, in accordance with the law, between public and private medical assistance.

ART. 42 Union organization is free. The internal norms and activities of union organizations must conform to the principles of democracy. The law determines the criteria for the control of the degree of representation of the unions. The unions' financial statements must be public and deposited according to the law.

ART. 43 The right to strike is exercised within the framework of the laws which regulate it.

ART. 44 The organization of political parties is free. The political parties must publish financial statements reviewed by independent auditors, and they must be deposited as prescribed by law.

ART. 45 Private economic initiative is free. It may not be exercised in contrast with social usefulness or in a way which brings damage to security, liberty, and human dignity. The law determines the expedient planning and control to guide and coordinate public and private economic activity for social ends.

ART. 46 Property can be public or private. Economic assets belong to the State, to entities, or to individuals. Private property is recognized and guaranteed by law, which determines its methods of acquisition, use, and limits to ensure its social function and to make it accessible to everyone. Private property may be expropriated for reasons of general interest in cases provided for by law, and upon compensation.

ART. 47 All citizens, women and men, who have reached majority age, are electors. The vote is free, equal, and secret. The right to vote may not be limited except for civil incapacity or as a result of an irrevocable penal sentence or in cases of moral indignity indicated by law.

ART. 48 All citizens may accede to public and elective offices in conditions of equality, according to the prerequisites established by law. For admission to public and elective offices, the law may consider as equal citizens of the Republic and citizens of the European Union. Those called to elective public functions have the right to be granted the time necessary for their fulfillment while maintaining their employment.

ORGANIZATION OF THE REPUBLIC

ART. 49 The Federal Assembly is composed of the National Assembly and the Assembly of the Regions. The Federal Assembly is convened in joint session of the members of the two Assemblies only in cases established by the Constitution.

ART. 50 The Assembly of the Regions is composed of the members of the Regional Governments which nominate them and recall them: the same Regional Governments nominate and recall a substitute for each of its own members of the Assembly, likewise a member of the Regional Government, who may represent the member. Each Region has at least three members in the Assembly to which a member is added for every two million inhabitants or fraction thereof. The members of the Assembly belonging to the same Region express a single vote numerically equal to the number of members, or substitutes, present.

ART. 51 The National Assembly is elected by universal and direct suffrage. The number of deputies of the National Assembly is two-hundred. All electors who on the day of the election have reached majority age are eligible as members of the National Assembly. After having assigned a minimum of two seats for each Region, the division of seats is made by dividing the number of inhabitants of the Republic, which results from the latest general census of the population in each Region, on the basis of the whole quotients and the highest remainder. Each Region adopts and modifies the laws for election of for the members of the Assembly belonging to it.

ART. 52 The National Assembly is elected for five years.

ART. 53 The election of the National Assembly takes place between the ninetieth and seventieth day before the expiration of the previous one. The first session takes place not after the twentieth day of the election. The powers of the preceding National Assembly remain in force until the new National Assembly meets.

ART. 54 The National Assembly meets by law on the first working day of February and October. Each Assembly may be convened on extraordinary occasions on the initiative of its President or of the President of the Republic or one-third of its members.

ART. 55Each Assembly elects a President and the Office of the Presidency from among its members. When the Federal Assembly meets in joint session, its President and Office of the Presidency are those of the National Assembly.

ART. 56 Each Assembly adopts its own regulations by an absolute majority of its members. The sessions are public; however, each of the two Assemblies and the convened Federal Assembly may deliberate a secret session. The deliberations of each Assembly and of the Federal Assembly are not valid if a majority of their members is not present, and if they are not approved by the majority of the present, except for cases in which a special majority is requested by the Constitution.
Members of the Government, even if they are not members of either Assembly, have the right to attend their sessions. If requested, they must attend them personally or by sending a representative from their ministry. They are entitled to speak when they request it.

ART. 57 The law determines the cases of ineligibility and incompatibility with the office of deputy. No one may simultaneously belong to both Assemblies.

ART. 58 The National Assembly judges the qualifications of admission of its members and the causes leading to ineligibility and incompatibility.

ART. 59 The members of the Federal Assembly may not be indicted under penal, civil, or administrative law for the opinions expressed and the votes given in the exercise of their function. Without the authorization of the Assembly to which he belongs, no member of the Federal Assembly may be personally apprehended or put under house arrest, unless caught in the act of committing a crime for which the mandate or order of arrest is mandatory. Equal authorization is required to place under arrest or maintain in detention a member of the Federal Assembly in execution of a sentence even if irrevocable. Equal authorizations are required for equivalent administrative acts.

ART. 60 The members of the National Assembly receive a compensation as established by law.

ART. 61 Legislative initiative lies with the Government, with each member of the Assemblies and with other bodies and entities to which it has been conferred by the Constitution. The people exercise legislative initiative through the proposal, from at least fifty thousand electors, of a bill drawn up in articles. Bills initiated by the Government and by the members of the Assembly of the Regions are presented to the Assembly of the Regions; other bills are presented to the National Assembly.

ART. 62 The State has exclusive powers to make laws with respect to:

• national constitutional laws and revision of the Constitution;
• election of the federal and European parliaments;
• regulation of federal offices and bodies;
• citizenship and civil status;
• international relations and the conclusion of treaties and alliances of only federal jurisdiction; defense and the Armed Forces;
• special security services;
• relations with the Catholic Church and other religious organizations;
• currency, federal credit, and State accounts;
• technical regulations, weights, measures, and the determination of time;
• regulations on jurisdiction;
• federal statistics;
• post and telecommunications and television information of federal interest;
• public works concerning areas of federal jurisdiction;
• regulation of maritime and airspace navigation;
• administrative, accounting, and fiscal regulation of the Republic;
• civil, penal, and trial regulation;
• immigration and emigration;
• labor laws;
• mandatory social security statutes;
• regulation of the professions;
• minimum level of irrevocable health services;
• arms and explosives of non-individual use;
• fundamental criteria for scientific and technological research;
• promotion of competition;
• nuclear energy;
• transport and communications of federal interest;
• discipline of traffic;
• protection of literary, artistic, and intellectual property, copyrights and patents;
• public works and the discipline of expropriations for public use in areas of jurisdiction of the Republic.

ART. 63 Each bill presented to an Assembly is, according to its regulations, examined by a commission and then by the Assembly itself which approves it article by article and with a final vote. The regulations establish shortened procedures for bills which are declared urgent. It can also establish in which cases and forms the examinations and approval of bills are deferred to commissions, including permanent commissions. Even in these cases, until the moment of definitive approval, the bill is remitted before the Assembly if the Government or a tenth of the members of the Assembly or a fifth of the commission request it to be discussed and voted on by the Assembly itself or be submitted to its final approval by declarations of vote only. The regulations determine the forms in which the work of the commission is rendered public. The normal procedure of examination and direct approval on the part of the Assembly is always adopted for bills concerning constitutional and electoral law and for those concerning deference of legislative power, authorization to ratify international treaties, and the approval of budgets and planning.

ART. 64 Exercise of the legislative function may not be delegated to the Government except on determination of principles and criteria and only for limited time periods and for defined subjects. The Government may not, without delegation of the Assemblies, enact decrees which have the value of ordinary law.

ART. 65 Laws are promulgated by the President of the Federal Republic within one month of their approval. If the Assemblies, each by an absolute majority of its members, declare urgency, the law is promulgated in the terms established by them. Laws are published immediately after their promulgation and they enter into force the fifteenth day after their publication, unless the laws themselves establish a different time period.

ART. 66 A popular referendum is arranged to deliberate the total or partial abrogation of a law or an act having the validity of law or to approve a proposition for law when requested by five-hundred thousand electors or two Regions. Referendums are not permitted for laws on tax and budget, on amnesties and pardons, and on authorizations to ratify international treaties. All citizens called to elect the National Assembly have the right to participate in a referendum vote. The proposition subject to referendum is approved if the majority of citizens having the right to vote have participated and if a majority of the votes validly expressed have been reached. The law determines the methods for implementing referendums.

ART. 67 The Assemblies deliberate the state of war and confer the necessary powers to the Government.

ART. 68 Amnesties and pardons are conceded by the President of the Federal Republic by laws of delegation from the Assemblies. They may not be applied to crimes committed after the proposal of delegation.

ART. 69 Every accord or treaty of an international nature is brought to the attention of the Assemblies by the Government before its signing. On the request of one-fourth of the members of one of the Assemblies, to be presented within the successive thirty days, the Assemblies pronounce judgment on the accord or treaty. If the time allotted for request of examination expires without such request, the Assemblies' consent is implied, in all effects, for the further course of the accord or treaty.
The signing of international agreements or treaties which determine territorial changes, financial burdens, or alterations of laws, and of those demanding the implementation of military duties, must always be authorized by law.

ART. 70 Each year the Assemblies approve the budget and the budget report presented by the Government. A provisional budget may not be conceded except as provided for by law and for periods no longer than a total of four months. With the approval of the budget law new taxes and spending may not be established. Every new law requiring new and greater expenses must indicate the means to cover them.

ART. 71 Each Assembly must prepare inquiries on issues of public interest. For this purpose, it nominates from among its members a commission formed in such a way as to proportionally reflect the various groups present in the Assembly. The Commission of inquiry proceeds with its investigations and examinations with the same powers and the same limitations of the judicial authority.

ART. 72 The President of the Republic is elected by the Federal Assembly. The election takes place by secret ballot by a majority of the members. If on the third round of voting the required majority is not reached, there will be a successive run-off vote between the two candidates who received the higher number of votes in the preceding round of voting. The candidate with the highest number of votes is then elected; in case of a tie, the elder candidate is elected.

ART. 73 Any citizen who has reached forty years of age and enjoys civil and political rights may be elected Federal President. The office of the Presidency of the Republic is incompatible with any other office. The remuneration and benefits of the President are determined by law.

ART. 74 The Federal President is elected for four years. Forty days before the expiry of the term, the President of the National Assembly convenes a joint session of the Federal Assembly to elect a new Federal President. If the Federal Assembly is dissolved, or there are less than three months remaining before the expiry of its term, the election takes place within fifteen days after the meeting of the new Assembly. In the meantime, the powers of the incumbent President are extended.

ART. 75 The functions of the Federal President, in case he may not be able to fulfill them, are exercised by the President of the National Assembly. In case of permanent incapacity or death or resignation of the Federal President, the President of the National Assembly announces the election of a new Federal President within fifteen days, except for the longer time period prescribed if the National Assembly is dissolved or there are less than three months remaining before the expiration of its term.

ART. 76 The Federal President is the Head of State and represents the federation. He announces the election for the National Assembly and schedules their first session. He promulgates laws and enacts decrees having the validity of law and regulations. He announces popular referendums in cases prescribed by the Constitution. He nominates, in cases indicated by law, the administrators of the State. He accredits and receives diplomatic representatives, he ratifies international treaties with the authorization of the Assemblies when necessary. He is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, he presides the Supreme Council of Defense constituted according to law, and he declares states of war deliberated by the Assemblies. He may concede pardons and commute sentences.

ART 77 No act of the Federal President is valid unless it is countersigned by the ministers who sponsor it and who are responsible for it. Acts which have legislative validity and other acts indicated by law are countersigned also by the Prime Minister.

ART. 78 The Federal President is not responsible for the acts committed in the exercise of his functions, expect for high treason and for violations of the Constitution. In these cases, he is placed under impeachment by the Federal Assembly in joint session by an absolute majority of its members.

ART. 79 Before assuming his functions, the Federal President makes an oath of loyalty to the Federation and observance of the Constitution before the Federal Assembly in joint session.

ART. 80 The Federal Government is composed of the federal Prime Minister and the federal ministers.

ART. 81 The Prime Minister manages the general policy of the Government and is responsible for it. He maintains the unity of political and administrative direction, promoting and coordinating the activities of the ministers. The ministers are collectively responsible for the acts of the Government, and they are individually responsible for the acts of their ministries. The law provides for the regulation of the Government and determines the number, the responsibilities, and the organization of the ministries.

ART. 82 The Prime Minister is elected by the National Assembly on the proposal of the Federal President. He is elected if he obtains the vote of the majority of the members of the National Assembly. If the proposed candidate does not obtain this majority, within ten days the National Assembly convenes to proceed to the election, by the same required majority, of the federal Prime Minister who is not the same as the previous candidate. If the voting does not take place within the allotted time or does not yield a positive result, the Federal President dissolves the National Assembly. The Federal President, upon the positive result of the vote of the National Assembly, nominates the federal Prime Minister.

ART. 83 The federal ministers are nominated and revoked by the Federal President on the proposal of the federal Prime Minister. Each branch of the Federal Assembly may table a motion of no-confidence against a single minister; if the motion is approved, the Federal President revokes the minister. It is not permitted, through the procedure of individual no-confidence, to express no-confidence against all of the ministers.

ART. 84 The National Assembly may express no-confidence against the federal Prime Minister only if it elects, by a majority of its members, a new Prime Minister.

ART. 85 The federal Prime Minister may propose a motion of confidence; whenever it is not approved by the majority of the National Assembly, the Federal President dissolves the National Assembly within twenty days unless this latter, within the same period of time, elects by majority of its members a new federal Prime Minister. The federal Prime Minister may not attach a motion of confidence to specific legislative items or any other issues placed before a vote.

ART. 86 The Government is in office until the nomination of the successive one.

ART. 87 The Public Administration is disciplined by Statutes and Regulations on the basis of principles determined by law. The guidelines of the Administration are determined by institutional bodies and entities. The Administrations are separate from the respective institutional bodies. The institutional bodies are aided in the exercise of their functions by offices composed of the personnel strictly necessary for the purpose. Independent authorities are constituted by law. The institutional bodies determine neither their guidelines nor their composition.

ART. 88 Jurisdictional protection for reason of legitimacy is always permitted against the actions and omissions of the Administration. The protection must be effective and include compensation for all damages caused illegitimately. The law provides for administrative recourses and other suitable institutes to favor the non-jurisdictional resolution of controversies with the Public Administration. The law defines the admission prerequisites and the specialization criteria for magistrates assigned to the jurisdictional bodies which judges over controversies concerning the Public Administration.

ART. 89 Justice is administered in the name of the people. Judges and magistrates are subject only to the law.

ART. 90 Jurisdictional function is exercised by ordinary magistrates instituted and regulated by the norms of judicial law. Extraordinary or special judges may not be instituted. Special courts for specific matters are instituted, also with the participation of suitable citizens who are not part of the judiciary. The law regulates the cases and forms of direct participation of the people in the administration of justice.

ART. 91 The judiciary constitutes an autonomous order independent from every other power.

ART. 92 The recruitment of magistrates is provided for on a Regional basis. A distinction is made between the role of judging magistrates and investigating magistrates. The laws on the judicial system discipline the elective nomination of honorary magistrates for all non-investigative functions attributed to single judges.

ART. 93 The magistrates are irremovable. They may not be dismissed or suspended from service nor transferred to other offices or functions except by a decision of the self-governing body adopted with the reasons and the guarantees of defense established by judicial law or with their consent. The Minister of Justice has the power to promote disciplinary action. The Attorney General enjoys the guarantees established to it by the norms of judicial law.

ART. 94 The norms on the judicial system and on each magistrate are established by law. The law ensures the independence of the judges, of the Attorney General, and of third parties who participate in the administration of justice.

ART. 95 The investigate magistrate directly sets in order the judicial police.

ART. 96 All jurisdictional provisions must be motivated. Recourse to the Appeals Court for violation of law is always permitted against sentences and against provisions on personal liberty handed down by jurisdictional bodies. This norm may be revoked only for sentences handed down by Military Tribunals in times of war.

ART. 97 The Attorney General is obliged to exercise penal action.

ART. 98 Jurisdictional protection of rights and legitimate interests before jurisdictional bodies is always permitted against acts of the Public Administration. This jurisdictional protection may not be excluded or limited to particular types of appeal or to specific categories of acts. The law determines which jurisdictional bodies may declare null and void acts of the Public Administration in the cases and with the effects prescribed by the law itself.

ART. 99 The Supreme Council of the Magistrate is presided by the President of the Republic. The first president and the attorney general of the Court of Appeals are also members of it by law. The other members are elected for one-third by the investigative magistrates, for one-third by the judging magistrates, and for one-third by the attorneys, among those belonging to the respective categories. The Council elects a vice-president. The elected members hold office for four years and they are not immediately re-eligible. While they are in office, they may not be enrolled in the professional registers, nor be a member any elective public Assembly.

ART. 100 The preparation of public accounts must be founded on principles of transparency and clarity in such a way that the source, the nature, the use, and the amount of annual, continuing, and permanent revenues and expenses can be identified. The financial statements of the Communes, of the Provinces, of the Regions, and of the Republic are prepared on the basis of the principle of economic jurisdiction. The law, by means of the national accounting plan, identifies the evaluation criteria and the publication times for budgets and estimates. The Republic has jurisdiction to provide for the concession of financial aid to the Regions for investments of particular importance in such areas as required in order to avoid disturbances in the general economic equilibrium and to equalize the nature and the state of services provided to the respective populations. Financial aid takes place on the basis of contributions made by half from resources of the Republic and by half from the resources of the Regions involved. Such aid must be autonomously shown in the financial statements of the respective territorial entities according to their entry as outflow or inflow. Any income redistribution policy between the States and the Regions are implemented by the Republic through resources coming from specific federal taxes. Each non-budget law which entails new and greater expenses must indicate the financial means to cover it for the entire period of application.

ART. 101 Each territorial entity prescribed by the Constitution sustains the expenses relative to its own tasks in an autonomous way and each has full fiscal autonomy, except when differently provided for by the Constitution. All must contribute to the public expenses of the local territories and the Regions. Total federal taxes may not exceed 20% of the gross domestic product in each Region. This rate includes any federal taxes for implementing income redistribution policies. Such policies may be implemented only in favor of those Regions which demonstrate to have planned to impose a tax rate which is not less than the maximum among the Regions which have not requested aid in the form of income redistribution for that financial year.

ART. 102 The public territorial entities are autonomous and mutually independent in terms of budget.

ART. 103 The Federal Constitutional Court judges:

• on controversies relating to the constitutionality of laws and of acts having the force of law, and on regulations of the Republic and the State;
• on conflicts of attribution of the powers between the bodies of the Republic, on those between the Republic and the Regions, and between the Regions;
• on accusations made against the President of the Republic;
• on the admissibility of popular referendums at the federal level.

ART. 104 The Federal Constitutional Court is composed of sixteen judges appointed for half by the National Assembly, and for half by the Assembly of the Regions. The judges of the Constitutional Court are chosen among the magistrates of superior jurisdictions, ordinary University professors of jurisprudence and attorneys who have exercised the profession for at least twenty years and who are enrolled in the Registers for superior jurisdictions. The judges of the Constitutional Court are appointed for seven years beginning from they day they are sworn in and they may not be reappointed. At the expiration of their term the constitutional judges cease the exercise of their functions and duties. The court elects its president from among its members, according to the norms established by law; the President remains in office until the expiration of his office of judge. The office of judge of the Court is incompatible with any other elective office, with the exercise of the profession of attorney, and with every office and duty indicated by law.

ART. 105 In the judgments of accusation against the President of the Republic, in addition to the ordinary judges of the Court, sixteen members are called to intervene drafted by lot from a list of citizens having the prerequisites for eligibility as members of the National Assembly which the National Assembly compiles every nine years by means of election with the same methods established by law for ordinary judges.

ART. 106 When the Court declares a law or an act having force of law to be unconstitutional, it ceases to be effective the day successive to the publication of the decision. The decision of the Court is published and communicated to the National Assembly and to the Assembly of the Regions. No appeals are permitted against the decisions of the Constitutional Court.

ART. 107 Unless otherwise prescribed by the Constitution, laws to revise the Constitution are adopted by absolute majority in the National Assembly with two successive deliberations separated by an interval of no more than three months, and, successively, by the Assembly of the Regions with a single vote of two-thirds majority of its members. The same laws are submitted to a popular referendum when, within three months from their publication, one-fifth of the members of each Assembly of one-fourth of the Regions or five-hundred thousand electors make a request for it. The law submitted to referendum is not promulgated if it is not approved by a majority of the valid votes.

ART. 108 The laws of constitutional revision aimed at modifying the distribution of jurisdiction among the various territorial entities must be approved by an absolute majority in each branch of the Federal Assembly and by a majority in three-fourths of the Regions.

ART. 109 The republican form of government may not be subject to constitutional revision.