Provisions modifying provisions, and provisions calling for subsequent regulatory acts: a training course organized by the Chamber of Deputies of Italy V Legislative XML Workshop June 2006 San Domenico di Fiesole (Florence - Italy) Giada ALTOMARE, Emiliana BASSOLINO, Francesco CARELLA, Tiziana FEDERICI, Francesco FRATINI, Valentina MONNIS, Enrico SETA

V Legislative XML Workshop “Project 107”: 1 st criticality Laws and decrees issued by the Italian government after Italy’s unification in / 80,000 of which 22,000 in force (estimate)

V Legislative XML Workshop “Project 107”: 2nd criticality Which provisions are actually “in force” ? Italian Legal System: A General Rule Art. 15 (Civil Code preliminary provisions) A law can be repealed only by a subsequent law by means of an explicit statement, because of incompatibility, or when the new law regulates a subject as a whole

V Legislative XML Workshop Repeal: 3 hypothesis Explicit statement Incompatibility Reorganization of the subject as a whole

V Legislative XML Workshop ”Project 107”: progress report 2002: Establishment of the governing bodies (expression of the 3 institutions responsible for the project) 2004 adoption of the XML standards (created within the framework of the Norme in rete project) 2004: agreement with the Court of Cassation 2005: start of the creation of the DB (14 th Parliament, ongoing) December 2006: expected completion of the DB of the 14 th Parliament and opening of the website 2007: start of the retrospective conversion of the historical stock of Italian legislation

V Legislative XML Workshop Legal Advisory Committee: its tasks To issue prescriptions regarding: a)How to identify acts which have to be included in the DB (regulatory acts) b)When the modifications to (or repealing of) previous provisions have to be reported c)How acts and individual provisions have to be annotated d)What level of compliance of the electronic texts with the original printed versions has to be assured e)The way in which data are presented on the website f)If the XML data model (DTDs) already issued (“Norme in rete” project) are suitable for the whole historical stock of Italian laws

V Legislative XML Workshop When the modifications to (or repealing of) previous provisions have to be reported A.Only when they are explicit B.At all times According to the guidelines of the Legal Advisory Committee

V Legislative XML Workshop The training course organized by the Chamber of Deputies Period: January-April 2006 Participants: 11 having a degree in Law, Political Science or Sociology Supervision: 6 officials of the Chamber of deputies and the 2 Chairs of the LAC Object of the analysis: 4 Italian laws General GOAL: a.to identify provisions modifying provisions b.to classify modifications according to a given table Practical GOAL: a.to identify problems which will be tackled by the LAC when establishing guidelines regarding provisions modifying provisions b.to sum up these problems in a report addressed to the LAC

V Legislative XML Workshop Typologies of modifications Explicit Partly explicit IMPLICIT

V Legislative XML Workshop How should the implicit modifications be handled ? 1° step: they have to be identified 2° step: the modified provision has to be identified 3° step: the modified provision has to be annotated, according to “annotation models” 4° step: the “regulatory sequence” has to be reconstructed

V Legislative XML Workshop Classification of implicit modifications A.High degree of certainty about the modified provision and the “regulatory sequence” B.Uncertainty about the modified provision C.Uncertainty about the “regulatory sequence” D.High uncertainty about the modified provision and the “regulatory sequence” (need for experts’ intervention)

V Legislative XML Workshop A proposal Building upon the 58 cases of provisions modifying provisions quoted and classified in the final report of the course, the LAC could distinguish two categories: 1.Implicit modifications which have to be pointed out in the public information system, by means of annotations 2.Implicit modifications whose mapping and annotation are not public (accessible only by the institutional bodies entrusted with “regulatory reorganization”)

V Legislative XML Workshop Provisions calling for subsequent acts Very often in the Italian regulatory system, a “primary” provision calls for a subsequent act (subordinate legislation), without which the primary provision cannot be implemented MARK-UP OF THESE PROVISIONS: THE GOAL To link each provision calling for a subsequent act to the act itself (as it is issued)

V Legislative XML Workshop Mark-up provisions c. for s. a. MAIN BENEFIT To provide the actual legislation “in force” (the real rules that the citizens have to be aware of) MAIN CRITICALITIES Difficulties in identifying these provisions (i.e. distinguishing them from rules establishing competencies) Difficulties in laying down a formal rule (name of the act, linguistic elements, etc.) that allows to select the provisions that have to be marked

Provisions modifying provisions, and provisions calling for subsequent regulatory acts THANK YOU V Legislative XML Workshop June 2006 San Domenico di Fiesole (Florence - Italy) Giada ALTOMARE Emiliana BASSOLINO Francesco CARELLA Tiziana Francesco FRATINI Valentina MONNIS Enrico SETA