Government of Italy: Branches, Parliament, and the Courts

The government of Italy is a parliamentary republic established by the constitution that took effect on January 1, 1948, after citizens voted in a 1946 referendum to replace the monarchy that had ruled since unification in the 1860s. Power is divided among a president who serves as head of state, a prime minister and cabinet who run the government, a two-chamber parliament that makes the laws, and an independent judiciary. Regions and municipalities handle a large share of day-to-day governance, and membership in the European Union adds another layer that sits above all of them.

The President of the Republic

The president is head of state and stands for national unity rather than running policy. A joint session of both chambers of Parliament elects the president, joined by three delegates from each of Italy’s twenty regions. The first three ballots require a two-thirds supermajority; from the fourth ballot onward, an absolute majority is enough. Any citizen at least 50 years old with full civil and political rights is eligible, and the term is seven years.¹

On paper the president’s powers are broad. In practice most are exercised on the government’s advice. The president formally appoints the prime minister and, on the prime minister’s recommendation, the cabinet ministers.¹ After consulting the presiding officers of both chambers, the president may dissolve one or both houses of Parliament. That power cannot be used during the last six months of the presidential term unless it overlaps with the last six months of Parliament’s own term, a restriction known informally as the semestre bianco.²

The president also commands the armed forces, chairs the Supreme Defense Council, and may grant pardons or commute sentences.² A structural check runs through all of these acts: no presidential act is valid unless it also carries the signature of the minister who proposed it, and that minister is legally responsible for its content.¹

The Prime Minister and the Cabinet

Executive power sits with the Council of Ministers, led by the President of the Council of Ministers, the title Italy uses for its prime minister. The president of the republic appoints the prime minister, who then proposes the rest of the cabinet.¹ The choice is constrained by parliamentary arithmetic, because the appointee has to assemble a working majority in both chambers.

Within ten days of formation the new government must appear before both houses and win a roll-call vote of confidence. Losing an ordinary vote on a bill does not, on its own, force resignation. A motion of no confidence is a separate act, signed by at least one-tenth of a chamber’s members and debatable no sooner than three days after it is introduced. If it passes, the government falls.¹

The prime minister sets overall policy direction and coordinates the ministers. Ministers are collectively responsible for what the Council of Ministers decides and individually responsible for their own departments. If a prime minister or minister is suspected of a crime committed in the exercise of their duties, they face trial in the ordinary courts, but only after one of the two parliamentary chambers authorizes the proceedings.²

Parliament and How Laws Are Made

Parliament has two chambers, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. Unusually among European democracies, both hold identical legislative powers, a setup called perfect bicameralism. Every bill must pass both chambers in identical form. If the Senate amends a bill the Chamber has already approved, the text returns to the Chamber, and the exchange continues until both sides agree on every word.

A 2020 constitutional referendum reduced the size of Parliament. The Chamber of Deputies now has 400 elected members and the Senate has 200, down from 630 and 315. The Senate also includes a small number of lifetime senators: former presidents of the republic hold the seat automatically, and the sitting president may appoint up to five citizens who have distinguished themselves in social, scientific, artistic, or literary fields.¹

Both chambers are elected for five-year terms under the Rosatellum electoral law of 2017. Roughly 37 percent of seats are filled through single-member districts where the top vote-getter wins outright, and the remaining 63 percent are distributed through proportional representation using party lists. Voters cast a single ballot that counts toward both the district race and the proportional allocation. The mix is neither purely winner-take-all nor purely proportional, and it tends to reward coalition-building among parties.

Changing the Constitution

Parliament can amend the constitution, but the process is slow by design. Each chamber must approve the change in two separate votes at least three months apart. On the second vote, an absolute majority of each chamber’s total membership is required.³ Even after clearing that bar, the amendment can be challenged. If one-fifth of either chamber’s members, 500,000 voters, or five regional councils request it within three months of publication, the amendment goes to a popular referendum and must win a majority of valid votes to survive. The only way to bypass a referendum is approval by a two-thirds supermajority in both chambers on the second vote.¹

The Courts

The judiciary is constitutionally independent from both the executive and Parliament. Article 101 states that judges are “subject only to the law.”² A self-governing body called the Superior Council of the Judiciary (Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura, or CSM) handles decisions about judges’ and prosecutors’ careers, including hiring through competitive exams, assignments, transfers, promotions, and discipline.⁴ The president of the republic chairs the CSM, but its day-to-day work is driven by elected members drawn from the judiciary and from Parliament.

Italy follows a civil law tradition, so courts apply detailed written codes and statutes rather than building law through binding judicial precedent. The ordinary court system has three tiers: courts of first instance, courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court of Cassation at the top. Prosecutors and judges belong to the same professional corps and enter through the same competitive examination, though they fill different roles during investigations and trials.

Administrative Courts

A parallel network of administrative courts handles disputes between individuals and public authorities. The Regional Administrative Courts (Tribunali Amministrativi Regionali, or TAR) hear the first-instance challenges to government decisions that someone claims violated their legitimate interests. Appeals from TAR decisions go to the Council of State, which also advises the government on legal and administrative matters. Private disputes go to ordinary courts; disputes with the government go to administrative courts.

The Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court sits outside both the ordinary and administrative systems and guards the constitution itself. It rules on whether national or regional laws violate constitutional principles, resolves jurisdictional conflicts between branches of government or between the central government and the regions, and adjudicates charges brought against the president of the republic.¹ When the court strikes down a law the ruling is final, takes effect immediately, and cannot be appealed. Fifteen judges sit on the court: five appointed by the president, five elected by Parliament in joint session, and five chosen by the highest ordinary and administrative courts.

Regions and Local Government

Italy is divided into twenty regions, which form the primary level of territorial self-government. Below the regions sit provinces and municipalities (comuni), the layer closest to daily life. Municipalities handle local policing, waste collection, civil registries, and social services.

Five regions hold a special autonomy status written into the constitution: Friuli Venezia Giulia, Sardinia, Sicily, Trentino-Alto Adige, and Valle d’Aosta. Each has its own constitutional statute granting broader legislative and financial powers than the fifteen ordinary regions. The reasons trace to linguistic minorities, geography, and postwar agreements. Trentino-Alto Adige is further divided into two autonomous provinces, Trento and Bolzano, which exercise most regional powers directly.¹

Every region, ordinary or special, is led by a directly elected president and a regional council that functions as a local legislature. Regions hold lawmaking power over areas such as healthcare delivery, urban planning, and local transportation. The central government retains exclusive authority over foreign affairs, defense, the monetary system, and criminal and civil law. Constitutional reforms over the past two decades have pushed Italy toward greater decentralization, giving regions more control over their own revenues, and the balance between Rome and the regions remains a live political debate.

Italy in the European Union

Italy was one of six founding countries of what became the European Union, signing the Treaty of Rome in 1957 to create the European Economic Community.⁵ EU regulations apply directly in Italy without being translated into Italian law, and EU directives require Italy to pass implementing legislation within set deadlines. When Italian law conflicts with EU law, Italian courts are required to set aside the domestic provision.

Italy holds 76 of the 720 seats in the European Parliament for the 2024–2029 term, one of the largest national delegations after Germany and France.⁶ Italian ministers also sit on the Council of the European Union, where they vote on EU legislation, and the prime minister joins other heads of government on the European Council to set the EU’s broad political direction. Italy is part of the eurozone and adopted the euro in 1999, replacing the lira.

1
Senato della Repubblica. Constitution of the Italian Republic
2
Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic. Constitution of the Italian Republic
3
Chamber of Deputies. Revision of the Constitution
4
Presidenza della Repubblica. The Superior Council of the Judiciary
5
European Union. History of the European Union 1945-59
6
European Parliament. 2024 European Election Results