Editing Government of Italy (section)

== Judicial branch ==
{{Further|Law of Italy|Judiciary of Italy|Constitutional Court of Italy|Court of Cassation (Italy)}}
[[File:Costituzione della Repubblica Italiana.jpg|thumb|One of three original copies, now in the custody of Historical Archives of the [[President of Italy|President of the Republic]], of the [[constitution of Italy]]]]
The [[law of Italy]] has a plurality of sources of production. These are arranged in a hierarchical scale, under which the rule of a lower source cannot conflict with the rule of an upper source (hierarchy of sources).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dirittoeconomia.net/diritto/fonti_diritto/gerarchia_fonti.htm|title=GERARCHIA DELLE FONTI|access-date=26 March 2022|language=it}}</ref> The [[Constitution of Italy|constitution of 1948]] is the main source.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/italy.php|title=Guide to Law Online: Italy &#124; Law Library of Congress|website=www.loc.gov}}</ref>

The [[Constitution of Italy#The Judicial Branch (Articles 101–113)|constitution]] states that [[justice]] is administered in the name of the people and that [[judge]]s are subject only to the [[law]].<ref name="ItaConst"/> So the [[judiciary]] is a branch that is completely autonomous and independent of [[Separation of powers|all other branches of power]], even though the [[Ministry of Justice (Italy)|minister of justice]] is responsible for the organization and functioning of those services involved with [[justice]] and has the power to originate disciplinary actions against [[judge]]s, which are then administered by the [[High Council of the Judiciary (Italy)|High Council of the Judiciary]], presided over by the [[President of Italy|president]].<ref name="ItaConst"/>

The [[judiciary of Italy]] is based on [[Roman law]], the [[Napoleonic Code]] and later [[statute]]s. It is based on a mix of the [[adversarial system|adversarial]] and [[inquisitorial system|inquisitorial]] [[civil law (legal system)|civil law]] systems, although the [[adversarial system]] was adopted in the appeal courts in 1988. Appeals are treated almost as new trials, and three degrees of trial are present. The third is a legitimating trial.

There is only partial [[judicial review]] of legislation in the [[North America|North-American]] sense. Judicial review can be enacted only under certain conditions, either it already being established by [[Constitutional laws of Italy|constitutional law]], or in the [[Constitutional Court of Italy|Constitutional Court]], which can reject violating laws after judicial scrutiny. According to Article 134 of the [[Constitution of Italy#Constitutional Guarantees (Articles 134–139)|constitution]], the [[Constitutional Court of Italy|Constitutional Court]] shall pass judgement on:<ref name="ItaConst"/>
* Controversies on the [[constitutionality]] of laws issued by the [[Italy|state]] and [[Regions of Italy|regions]].
* Conflicts arising from the allocation of powers of the state and those powers’ allocation between regions.
* Charges brought against the [[President of Italy|president]] and until 1989 the [[Council of Ministers (Italy)|ministers]].

The Constitutional Court is composed of 15 judges, one of which is the President of the Italian Constitutional Court elected from the court itself. One third of the judges are appointed by the [[President of Italy|President of the Italian Republic]], one-third are elected by Parliament and one-third are elected by the ordinary and administrative supreme courts. The Constitutional Court passes on the constitutionality of laws, and is a post-[[World War II]] innovation.

The Constitutional Court was primarily established "for the protection of the legal order and only indirectly as an institution for the vindication of [[fundamental rights]]" of individuals.<ref name="Barsotti">Vittoria Barsotti, [[Paolo G. Carozza]], Marta Cartabia, Andrea Simoncini, ''Italian Constitutional Justice in Global Context'' (Oxford University Press, 2016), pp. 60–61</ref> The court generally only has the power of [[judicial review]] over "laws and enactments having force of law issued by the State and Regions" (what is called [[Primary and secondary legislation|primary legislation]] in civil-law systems) and does not have the power to review administration acts and regulations, or parliamentary rules.<ref name="Barsotti"/>

In November 2014, Italy accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the [[International Court of Justice]].<ref>[http://www.icj-cij.org/en/declarations/it Declarations recognizing the jurisdiction of the Court as compulsory: Italy], International Court of Justice.</ref>