Constitutional laws of Italy

A constitutional law, in the Italian legal system, is an Act of Parliament that has the same strength as the Constitution of Italy. This means that in case of conflicts between the Constitution and a constitutional law, the latter normally prevails, according to the legal principle that "a later law repeals an earlier law" (lex posterior derogat priori).

Constitutional laws that alter or abolish portions of the text of the Constitution are also called leggi di revisione costituzionale (laws amending the Constitution). They are equivalent to amendments to the Constitution of other legal systems (e.g., the United States or Ireland).

The Constitution of Italy is a rigid constitution, meaning that it stands above other laws and it cannot be repealed or amended by them. Article 138 of the Constitution provides for the special procedure through which the Parliament can adopt constitutional laws (including laws to amend the Constitution). Compared to other systems with rigid constitutions, the procedure to amend the Constitution of Italy is among the easiest and is a variation of the ordinary legislative procedure.

The ordinary procedure to adopt a law in Italy requires both houses of parliament to approve the law in the same text, with a simple majority (i.e. the majority of votes cast). Constitutional laws start by following the same procedure. However, after having been approved for the first time, they need to be voted for by both houses a second time, which can happen no sooner than three months after the first. In this second reading, no new amendments to the bill may be proposed: the bill must be either approved or rejected in its entirety.

The constitutional law needs to be approved by at least a majority of MPs in each house (absolute majority) in its second reading. Depending on the results of this second vote, the constitutional law may then follow two different paths.

If a constitutional referendum is requested, in order to become law the bill must be approved by a majority of votes cast by the whole electorate. No quorum is required, meaning that the referendum turnout has no effect on its validity (unlike in other forms of referendums in Italy).

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