Constitutional Court of Italy
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The Constitutional Court of Italy (Italian: Corte costituzionale della Repubblica Italiana) is a supreme court of Italy, the other being the Court of Cassation. Sometimes, the name Consulta is used as a metonym for it, because its sessions are held in Palazzo della Consulta in Rome.
The Constitutional Court is composed of 15 judges: 5 appointed by the President, 5 elected by the Parliament of Italy, and 5 elected by the ordinary and administrative supreme courts. The members then elect the President of the Court, since 6 June 2011 Alfonso Quaranta,1 from among its members in a secret ballot, by an absolute majority (8 votes in the case of a full court). If no person gets that many votes, a runoff election between the two judges with the most votes occurs. One or two vice-presidents, appointed by the President of the Court, stand in for the president in the event of his absence for any reason. The constitutional court passes on the constitutionality of laws with no right of appeal.
The court is a post-World War II innovation. Since 12 October 2007, when reform of the Italian intelligence agencies approved in August 2007 came into force, the pretext of state secret cannot be used to deny access to documents by the Court.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/notizie/2011-06-06/alfonso-quaranta-nuovo-presidente-095004.shtml?uuid=AaMaSWdD