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fundamental charter · 1948

The Italian Constitution

The Constitution of the Italian Republic — in force since 1 January 1948 — is the fundamental law of the State: 139 articles setting out principles, rights, duties and the organisation of the Republic. Here is its structure, with the key articles to explore using real sources.

Fundamental principles (arts. 1–12)

The foundations of the Republic: democratic and founded on labour (art. 1), the inviolable rights of the individual (art. 2), formal and substantive equality (art. 3), the repudiation of war (art. 11), the protection of the landscape and of research (art. 9) and of linguistic minorities (art. 6).

Part I — Rights and Duties of Citizens (arts. 13–54)

  • Civil relations (13–28): personal liberty, inviolability of the home, freedom of expression (art. 21), the right to a defence (art. 24), the principle of legality in criminal law.
  • Ethical and social relations (29–34): the family, health (art. 32), schools and education (art. 34).
  • Economic relations (35–47): protection of labour, freedom of association in trade unions, private economic initiative (art. 41), property, savings.
  • Political relations (48–54): the vote, parties, duties towards the Republic and loyalty to the Constitution.

Part II — Organisation of the Republic (arts. 55–139)

  • Parliament (55–82): the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, the making of laws, the legislative process.
  • The President of the Republic (83–91).
  • The Government (92–100): the Council of Ministers, public administration, auxiliary bodies.
  • The Judiciary (101–113): independence, the High Council of the Judiciary (CSM), jurisdiction.
  • Regions, Provinces, Municipalities (114–133): territorial autonomies.
  • Constitutional guarantees (134–139): the Constitutional Court (art. 134) and constitutional revision.

Explore the text with sources

Every article can be queried in the app: you get the answer with the real legislative reference and, where available, the related constitutional case law. See also the guide to citing a statute with the ELI and the corpus of indexed statutes.

Informational tool — not legal advice. Official text: Gazzetta Ufficiale and Normattiva.