Italy
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- parliamentary republic
- CONSTITUTION
- January 1, 1948; amended several times
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on civil law; the Constitutional Court can review certain legislative texts
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- bicameral, Chamber of Deputies and Senate
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Constitutional Court (15 judges, one third appointed by the Head of State, one third elected by Parliament, one third by the judiciary)
RELIGIONS
90% Catholics, 10% others
From the country
- MARCH 6, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Senator Ersilia Salvato, vice-president of the Senate...
Senator Ersilia Salvato, vice-president of the Senate and President of the Senate Committee against the death penalty, asked the Governor of Missouri Bob Holden to pardon Antonio Richardson, a mentally impaired convict, sentenced to death for a double mur
- MARCH 5, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The Speaker of the House Luciano Violante declared:...
The Speaker of the House Luciano Violante declared: "We are working in unison with the Presidents of France and Germany towards a European bill against the death penalty"
- FEBRUARY 24, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The leader of the Democratici di Sinistra (Democratic...
The leader of the Democratici di Sinistra (Democratic Left, DS) parliamentary group Fabio Mussi condemned statements by far right politicians calling for the death penalty for the perpetrators of a horrific double murder in Novi Ligure
- JANUARY 24, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The Committee for the Abolition of the Death Penalty...
The Committee for the Abolition of the Death Penalty presented its conclusive report to the Italian Senate
- JANUARY 18, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
[photographer] Oliviero Toscani commenting on the postponement...
[photographer] Oliviero Toscani commenting on the postponement of the execution of North Carolina death row inmate Bobby Lee Harris, said "I hope he gets a commutation of his sentence, or even a pardon
- JANUARY 17, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Hands off Cain organised a demonstration in front of...
Hands off Cain organised a demonstration in front of the Palestinian delegation premises in Rome
- JANUARY 15, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
European Parliamentarian Emma Bonino criticised the...
European Parliamentarian Emma Bonino criticised the Palestinian Authority for the summary death sentences issued after trials lacking deliberation, and without the possibility of appeal or clemency
- JANUARY 1, 2001ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The Constitution approved in 1948 abolished the death...
The Constitution approved in 1948 abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes
- DECEMBER 14, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The Colosseum was illuminated to celebrate commutations...
The Colosseum was illuminated to celebrate commutations of sentences given to 105 death row prisoners in the Phillipines
- DECEMBER 14, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The Colosseum was illuminated to mark the occasion...
The Colosseum was illuminated to mark the occasion in New York, when the Secretary of the UN Kofi Annan was presented with 3 million signatures, from 145 countries, in an appeal against the death penalty organised by the Community of Saint Egidio
- DECEMBER 4, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
A collection of signatures against the death penalty...
A collection of signatures against the death penalty was presented to the President of Italy, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, at the end of a meeting with Archbishop Piovanelli organised by the Florentine church to mark the year of the Jubilee
- NOVEMBER 30, 2000ItalyDEATH PENALTY
In occasion of the of the Tuscan Florence festival,...
In occasion of the of the Tuscan Florence festival, held to celebrate the decision taken in 1786 by the Grand-Duke of Tuscany, to make it the first state in the world to have abolished the death penalty and the use of torture, there was held a conference