1. Prof.. Bruno Tassone Docente di Principles of Civil Law LUISS Guido Carli

2.  The process starts by filing, in one of the Houses, a bill (called “disegno di legge”, “proposta di legge” or “progetto di legge” depending on the proponent).  A bill may be introduced by: 1) the Government; 2) any Member of the Houses; 3) the people (if signed by at least 50,000 voters); 4) a Regional Council; or 5) the National Council for Economy and Labor (CNEL), but only on specific issues.

3.  A bill must be introduced in a public sitting of one the Houses and, after this, the President of the House refers it to a “Commissione”.  “Commissioni” are the most important bodies of the Houses as to the lawmaking process is concerned.  Members of all political parties become members of Commissioni in proportion to the presence of the party in the House.  There are about 14 Commissioni, each dealing with different matters.

4.  Different internal procedures may be followed on the bills, as Commissioni may be assigned: a) a reporting remit (text discussed, modified, voted and remitted to the House); b) a legislative remit (text finally approved by the Commissione); c) a drafting remit (articles approved by the Commissione and final text by the House); or d) an advisory remit (opinion given on another Commissione’s work). (Please see the “Notes on Constitutional Bodies” for more details).

5.  A bill becomes “law” only after having been passed by both Houses in the same wording.  If one of the Houses rejects the bill, it is not transmitted to the other.  If one of the Houses approves the bill, the other can approve, reject or amend the bill.  In case of amendment of the bill by the “second” House, the “first” one can only resolve on the single amendments - rejecting or approving the bill altogether - without further modifications.

6.  Italy thus follows the principle of full bicameralism, as the two Houses perform identical functions.  In other systems, one House usually has a function of control (veto power) and is seen as representing local or regional communities, while the other oversees the drafting of the bills.  Nowadays the full bicameralism is strongly criticized, as causes much delay and cost in approval of new laws, without contributing significantly to their quality.

7.  Within one month of approval by both Houses, the bill has to be “promulgated” by the President of the Republic, unless the Houses declare that a case of urgency occurs and request a shorter term.  The President of the Republic exercises a form of substantive control: if he thinks the bill is unconstitutional, he “remands” it (sends it back) to the Houses with an official explanation, but he may do so only once.

8.  Within 30 days from promulgation, the Minister of Justice (also called “Guardasigilli”) ensures that the bill is included in the Official Collection of Laws of the Republic and published in the Official Journal.  The bill enters into force after 15 days from the publication, unless differently stated.  After this period, the so-called “vacatio legis”, knowledge of the law by citizens is presumed, without the possibility to allege the contrary (“ignorantia legis non excusat”).  See the Sources of Law Case-study for exceptions set by the Constitutional Court.