Constitution of Italy

The Constitution of the Italian Republic (Italian: Costituzione della Repubblica Italiana) was ratified on 22 December 1947 by the Constituent Assembly, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against, before coming into force on 1 January 1948, one century after the previous Constitution of the Kingdom of Italy had been enacted. The text, which has since been amended sixteen times, was promulgated in an extraordinary edition of Gazzetta Ufficiale on 27 December 1947.

The Constituent Assembly was elected by universal suffrage on 2 June 1946, on the same day as the referendum on the abolition of the monarchy was held, and it was formed by the representatives of all the anti-fascist forces that contributed to the defeat of Nazi and Fascist forces during the liberation of Italy. The election was held in all Italian provinces, except the provinces of Bolzano, Gorizia, Trieste, Pola, Fiume and Zara, located in territories not administered by the Italian government but by the Allied authorities, which were still under occupation pending a final settlement of the status of the territories (in fact in 1947 most of these territories were then annexed by Yugoslavia after the Paris peace treaties of 1947, such as most of the Julian March and the Dalmatian city of Zara).

Piero Calamandrei, a professor of law, an authority on civil procedure, spoke in 1955 about World War II and the formation of the Italian constitution:

If you want to go on a pilgrimage to the place where our constitution was created, go to the mountains where partisans fell, to the prisons where they were incarcerated and to the fields where they were hanged. Wherever an Italian died to redeem freedom and dignity, go there, young people, and ponder: because that was where our constitution was born.

The groups that composed the Constituent Assembly covered a wide range of the political spectrum, with the prevalence of three major groups, namely Christian democratics, liberals and leftists. All these groups were deeply anti-fascist, so there was general agreement against an authoritarian constitution, putting more emphasis on the legislative power and making the executive power dependent on it.

All the different political and social views of the Assembly contributed in shaping and influencing the final text of the Constitution. For example, constitutional protections concerning marriage and the family reflect natural law themes as viewed by Roman Catholics, while those concerning workers' rights reflect socialist and communist views. This has been repeatedly described as the constitutional compromise, and all the parties that shaped the Constitution were referred to as the arco costituzionale (literally, "Constitutional Arch").

There were 556 members of the Constituent Assembly, of which 21 were women, with 9 from the Christian Democratic group, 9 from the Communist group, 2 from the Socialist group, and 1 from the Common Man's group. These members came from all walks of life, including politicians, philosophers and partisans; and many of them went on to become important figures in the Italian political history.

The Constitution is composed of 139 articles (five of which were later abrogated) and arranged into three main parts: Principi Fondamentali, the Fundamental Principles (articles 1–12); Part I concerning the Diritti e Doveri dei Cittadini, or Rights and Duties of Citizens (articles 13–54); and Part II the Ordinamento della Repubblica, or Organisation of the Republic (articles 55–139); followed by 18 Disposizioni transitorie e finali, the Transitory and Final Provisions.