Lecture 13

Question 1

Parliament’s political power

Answer 1

Parliament has the power to control the Government’s activities and to hold it accountable for its decisions/ policies.
It is a natural consequence of the relation of confidence between the Parliament and the Government (indirect legitimization)
- Parliament controls the Government and can grant/revoke the confidence in it
- Parliament can “stir” and influence the Government’s activities and policies
1. orientation power: powers aimed at influencing the Government’s activities (its policies, its agenda)
2. confidence power: powers aimed at creating/ dissolving the relation of confidence with the Government
3. control power: powers aimed at hilding the Government accountable for its activites (especially in front of the public opinion)
4. inquiry power: powers aimed at investigating on matters of public interest

Question 2

Parliament’s political power: orientation (motions, resolutions, agendas)

Answer 2

• motions= instrument that can be used by any MP or parliamentary group to present initiatives and proposals, start debates, expressing opinions or request actions. Tabled by the MPs and discussed by a House, they are aimed at expressing a political opinion on a given matter, and at compelling (politically, not legally) the Government to comply
• resolutions: voted by a House or by a Parliamentary Commission, they conclude a parliamentary debate on a given matter (e.g. debate on motion); can be non-binding as expressing the Parliament’s will, or binding, wherefor then the Government will have to legally and politically comply
• agendas: voted by a House, they express the criteria that the Government should follow while enforcing a given parliamentary act (legislative/ executive)

Question 3

Parliament’s political power: confidence

Answer 3

1. acts (usually motions) through which Parliament can intervene on the confidence relation with the Government
2. in the italian constitutional system: only three acts through which the confidence relation can be established or terminated:
3. motion of confidence (parliamentary initiative): established the relation between Parliament and a new Government;
   - the latter presents its political agenda to the Houses;
   - confidence must be given within 10 days from the Government’s formation;
   - vote takes place following simpel majority and open vote system;
   - if motion is not approved (no confidence given), Government must resign)
4. motion of no confidence (parliamentary initiative): used to terminate the relation of confidence;
   - initiative can be tabled at any time by 1/10 of the members of a House;
   - cannot be debated earlier than 3 days from its tabling;
   - simple majority, open vote;
   - if approved Government must resign
5. individual motion of no confidence
   - motion of no confidence directed towards a single Minister, and not towards the Government as a whole
   - not expressly mentioned by the Constitution
   - follows the same rules of the normal motion of no confidence
   - if it’s approved the single Minister must resign
6. question of confidence:
   the Government seeks Parliament’s approval and support with regards to specific matters and policies

Question 4

Parliament’s political power: supervision (questions, interpellations, parlimentary commission of control)

Answer 4

1. questions:
   - written by single MP and addressed to the Minister competent on the subject’s matter;
   - used to gain information about an event or to access specific documents or to be informed of the Government’s position on a given matter;
   - written (delayed) or oral (immediate) answer
   - MP can reply and state whether they are satisfied
   - “question time”
2. interpellations:
   - written
   - used to ask the Government to explain the reasons or interntions of its policies
   - they are used to ask the Government to slarify the initiatives that it wishes to undertake on topics of general interests
   - Government might choose to decline to answer, but it must motivate its choice to do so
3. parliamentary commissions of control:
   a special type of permanent Parliamentary Commission that exercises the power of control on specific relevant (“structural”) matters that require a complex organization to be properly assessed:
   - Commission for the address and supervision on TV and radio broadcasting
   - Parliamentary Committee for the security of the Republic
   - Committee on the implementation of Scheigen, Europol and on immigration

Question 5

Parliament’s political power: information and inquiry

Answer 5

• auditions: audition of experts by a Parliamentary Commission on a matter within its competencies
• fact-finding investigation (indagine conoscitiva): performed by a Parliamentary Commission on a matter within its competencies (often through a series of auditions)
• Inquiry Commission: a special type of (temporary) Parliamentary Commission that investigates a specific matter of public interest, ating with the same authority (and powers) of the Judiciary

Question 6

Parliament’s political power: power realted to the EU system

Answer 6

• Parliament ratifies the EU treaties
• Parliament must be informed on the political orientation of the Government in the European Council and in the Council
• “early warnings system”: Parliament expresses a reasoned opinion on EU Law in tis “ascending phase” (“subsidiarity and proportionality test” procedure)
• Parliament implements EU Law in its “descending phase” (adopts the “annual European Act”)

Question 7

Parliament in Joint Session: elective power

Answer 7

• the President of the Republic (in this case, the Parliament in Joint Session is joined by 58 regional delegates)
• 1/3 of the members of the Superior Council of the Judiciary
• 1/3 of the judges of the Constitutional Court
• a list of 45 citizens (having the requirements to run for Senate) from which 16 citizens will be drafted at random to join the Const. Court in the event of an impeachment of the President of the Republic

Question 8

Parliament in Joint Session: non-elective powers with respect to the PotR

Answer 8

• recieves the presidential Oath of Office (pledge of allegiance to the Republic and to uphold the Constitution)
• promotes the presidential impeachment (for high treason or attempts to overthrow the Constitution) before the Constitutional Court (in this case, the Constituional Court will be joined by the 16 judges randomly drafted from the list of 45 citizens that were elected by Parliament in Join Session itself)