Last weekend Italy held a unsuccessful referendum in an attempt to alter their Constitution. But did you know that Italy does not necessarily need a referendum to change their Constitution?
As long as the legislation to change the Constitution is passed by both Houses twice, and the second time by at least two-thirds of both Houses of their Parliament, then the change is made. No need to ask the people.
This is only their third referendum to alter the 1947 Constitution and only once has the referendum been successful.
So, why in this case, would at least one House of the Italian Parliament not vote in a large enough number in favour of these alterations to their Constitution?
These changes would have diminished the power of the Senate. It would have meant that the Senate was reduced from 315 members to 100 and they would no longer be directly elected. You can understand why two-thirds of the Senate did not agree to this.
But the people of Italy also didn’t agree.
If we think about it in an Australian sense, how many Australian Senators would vote to drastically reduce their numbers and power? And how many Australians would vote for a change like this?
The Italian Parliament
Like us the Italian Parliament consists of two Houses. These are called the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. While not common around the world, in Italy and Australia both Houses have strong Upper Houses.
In the Australian Constitution this is enshrined in section 53. Apart from not being able to create or amend tax bills, the Senate has equal power to the House of Representatives. However the Australian Executive only needs majority support by Members in the House of Representatives. In Italy the Prime Minister needs the support of the majority in the Senate as well as the Chamber of Deputies.
The power of the Italian Senate
Researcher at the Constitution Unit Roberta Damiani writes:
The starting point for the debate in Italy is a feature of the country’s political system that is almost unique among parliamentary democracies: so-called ‘perfect’ bicameralism. That is, the two parliamentary chambers have exactly the same powers as each other – including on financial matters, and even with respect to votes of confidence in the government. Both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate also share the legitimacy of direct election: the latter currently consists of 315 elected members, plus a few life senators, who are either former Presidents of the Republic or highly accomplished citizens appointed by the President.
Strong bicameralism was a core principle at the founding of the Italian republic….At the drafting of the new Italian Constitution in 1947, ‘the idea of a strict functional equality (including equal powers over legislation) was reaffirmed and Italy’s uniquely undifferentiated bicameral parliament was born’. The aim was to prevent the rise of another dictatorship.
Reading Constitutions from around the world
It is interesting to read constitutions from other parts of the world. Often the history and the circumstances that led to the Constitution being enacted are evident and prominent within the document. Many Constitutions are made after war or conflict as a unifier for a country. The Italian Constitution was created in 1947 after the country had been engulfed by several decades of fascism and then WWII. Things that stand out in the Italian Constitution are:
The home is inviolable.
Personal domicile shall be inviolable.
Home inspections, searches, or seizures shall not be admissible save in the cases and manners complying with measures to safeguard personal liberty.
Controls and inspections for reason of public health and safety, or for economic and fiscal purposes, shall be regulated by appropriate laws.
Perhaps in the fascist years home inspections and seizures were common and something the people felt they needed protection from in a new Constitution. Here’s another one:
Freedom and confidentiality of correspondence and of every other form of communication is inviolable.
Limitations may only be imposed by judicial decision s