The Constitutional Court of Italy (Italian: Corte costituzionale della Repubblica Italiana) is the supreme court of Italy. It has the power to invalidate laws with immediate effect it finds to be unconstitutional. There is no right of appeal on these decisions.

Its role, powers and composition are defined in Section I (Constitutional guarantees) of Title VI of the Constitution. Article 134 states its passes judgement on:

Controversies on the constitutional legitimacy of laws and enactments having the force of law issued by the State and the regions;

Conflicts arising from allocation of powers of the State and those allocated to State and regions, and between regions;

Accusations made against the President of the Republic, according to the provisions of the Constitution.

Article 135 specifies the composition of the court:

The Constitutional Court shall be composed of fifteen judges, a third nominated by the President of the Republic, a third by Parliament in joint sitting and a third by the ordinary and administrative supreme courts.

The office of constitutional judge shall be incompatible with membership of parliament, of a regional council, the exercise of the profession of lawyer and with every appointment and office indicated by law.

It also specifies a nine-year term for justices. Their terms cannot be extended and they cannot be re-appointed. The court elects a president, serving for three years terms that can be renewed, but beyond the normal nine-year term. Full the full provisions of Article 135, see [1].

The seven provision of the Article 135 specifies its role in impeachment of the President:

In impeachment of the President of the Republic, apart from the ordinary judges of the Court, there shall also be sixteen members chosen by lot from among a list of citizens having the qualification necessary for election to the Senate, which the Parliament prepares every nine years through election using the same procedures as those in appointing ordinary judges.

External links

• Official website, included information on all justices 1956- (in Italian, English, Spanish, French and German)
• Constitution of the Republic of Italy (in English)