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Italian Parliament

Italian Parliament
Parlamento Italiano
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Houses Senate of the Republic
Chamber of Deputies
Leadership
President of the Senate
Pietro Grasso (PD)
Since 2013
President of the Chamber of Deputies
Laura Boldrini (SEL)
Since 2013
Structure
Seats 950
320 senators (315 elected + 5 for life)
630 deputies
Senate of Italy 2014.svg
Senate of the Republic political groups
Chamber of Deputies of Italy 2014.svg
Chamber of Deputies political groups
Elections
Senate of the Republic last election
24–25 February 2013
Chamber of Deputies last election
24–25 February 2013
Meeting place
Chamber of DeputiesPalazzo Montecitorio
Senate of the RepublicPalazzo Madama
Website
http://www.parlamento.it

The Italian Parliament (Italian: Parlamento Italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. The Parliament is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848-1861) and the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946). It is a bicameral legislature with 945 elected members and a small number of unelected members (parlamentari). It is composed of the Chamber of Deputies, with 630 members (deputati) elected on a national basis, and the Senate of the Republic, with 315 members (senatori) elected on a regional basis, plus a small number (currently 5) of senators for life (senatori a vita), either appointed or ex officio. The two houses are independent from one another and never meet jointly except under circumstances specified by the Constitution.

By the Republican Constitution of 1948, the two houses of the Italian Parliament possess the same powers: this particular form of parliamentary democracy (so-called perfect bicameralism) has been coded in the current form since the adoption of the Albertine Statute and resurged after the dismissal of the fascist dictatorship of the 1920s and 1930s during World War II.

Because the President of the Senate is acting Head of State in the absence of the President of the Republic, the President of the Senate and the Vice-Presidents of the Senate have a higher position than their respective counterparts of the Chamber of Deputies in the Italian order of precedence. On the other hand, no distinction is made between deputies and senators.

The Chamber of Deputies has 630 elected members, while the Senate has 315 elected members. The number of deputies and senators was fixed by a constitutional amendment in 1963: in its original text, the Constitution provided for a variable number of Members of Parliament depending on the population. The Senate of the Republic also includes a small number of unelected members (senators for life). There are two categories of senators for life. Former Presidents of the Republic are senators for life by law, unless they renounce this privilege. Furthermore, Presidents of the Republic can appoint up to five Italian citizens as senators for life "for outstanding merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field".


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