When Enough is Enough: Parliamentary Appointments to Judicial Councils and Gender Issues in Italy

Tania Groppi

Università degli Studi di Siena

In a controversial round of appointments, the Italian Parliament chose 21 men to fill all the available seats in the independent constitutional councils for the Judiciary. In response to this action, the female members of the Italian Association of Constitutional Law sent a letter to the Presidents of the two Chambers of Parliament, asking them to guarantee respect for Article 51 of the Italian Constitution (gender equality in public institutions) and transparency in the appointment process. 

In July of 2018, the Italian Parliament was called to appoint (pursuant to the Constitution and the law) part of the independent constitutional council of the Judiciary, namely the “lay members” of the self-administration bodies of the Judiciary (i.e. the Superior Council of the Judiciary and the Councils of Presidency of the Administrative Justice, of the Tax Judiciary and of the Court of Auditors), the remaining members being elected by the Judiciary itself. In addition, the Parliament also filled a vacancy on the Constitutional Court.

The result of the parliamentary nominations, by qualified majority, was the appointment of 21 men to the 21 available seats that were to be filled.

As a consequence, a severe breach of Article 51 of the Italian Constitution, guaranteeing to men and women equally the right of access to public offices, occurred.

Parliament’s decision was highly criticized by the President of the Republic and gave rise, for the first time, to a firm and unanimous reaction by the women members of the Italian Association of Constitutionalists (AIC).

Italy is well known worldwide for its strong patriarchal tradition, which also affects the presence of women at the decision-making level of all national institutions. And yet, this time the decision of the Parliament appeared even more as an affront to the role that women should play in the public life of the country.

The traditional exclusion of women from top level positions within the institutions’ hierarchy (one need only think that in the entire history of the Italian Constitutional Court, beginning from 1956, only one woman has ever been appointed by the Parliament to this institution), is also coupled with the opacity of the appointment procedures, which are entirely left to negotiation between political parties. In other words, the political decision is not preceded by a procedure involving the presentation of candidates, hearings and, in essence, some form of transparency, which should be required in order to make political parties accountable for their choices before the public opinion.

In such opaque scenario, which presumably implies complicated political do ut des (give and take) dynamics, there is no room for additional considerations, not even for remarks concerning the respect of the right, for men and women, to be granted access to public offices and elected positions on equal terms. This right is protected by Article 51 of the Italian Constitution, a provision that was also amended in 2003, with the purpose of including a specific reference to the need for the Italian Republic to take appropriate measures to fully implement the Article.

The gravity of the choice made by the Parliament was also pointed out by the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, who, speaking to young trainee judges on July 23rd, emphasized the need to preserve the pluralistic character of the Italian institutions. The President has called on politicians to consider “that the world – and, within it, the Judiciary – is made of both women and men, and not just of the male gender” and in this sense expressed “more than a wish, an utterly convinced exhortation”.

For their part, the Italian women constitutionalists addressed a letter to the Presidents of the two Chambers of the Italian Parliament. With this letter, its signatories (sixty-five full and associate professors of constitutional, public and comparative law, all members of the Italian Association of Constitutionalists, representing almost all the female members of this Association) intended to bring to the attention of the Parliament the question of compliance with Article 51 of the Italian Constitution.

They asked both Presidents to “initiate a profound reflection, within the two Assemblies, on the causes that led to this serious constitutional breach and on the actions, even of regulatory nature, that are suitable to prevent a similar situation, objectively incomprehensible in Italy in 2018, from occurring again in the future”.

The purpose of the letter is to launch a public debate, involving jurists and politicians, women and men, on the transparency of the appointment procedures and more generally on the implementation of Article 51 of the Italian Constitution. The letter has been opened for signature to Italian constitutionalists and jurists in general.

We hereby attach the letter. 

We will update our international colleagues on this issue in the next months.

Tania Groppi

Tania Groppi is Professor of Public Law at the University of Siena (Università degli Studi di Siena). 

Suggested citation: T Groppi, 'When Enough is Enough: Parliamentary Appointments to Judicial Councils and Gender Issues in Italy' IACL-AIDC Blog (1 August 2018) https://blog-iacl-aidc.org/blog/2018/8/1/when-enough-is-enough-parliamentary-appointments-to-judicial-councils-and-gender-issues-in-italy. 

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To Mrs. Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati

President of the Senate of the Republic

To Mr. Roberto Fico

President of the Chamber of Deputies

Honorable Presidents,

Recently, the Italian Parliament was called upon to appoint one constitutional judge and twenty “lay members” of the self-administration bodies of the Judiciaries: the Superior Council of the Judiciary and the Councils of Presidency of the administrative Justice, of the Tax Judiciary and of the Court of Audit.

As you are aware, Parliament elected 21 men to the 21 available vacancies. 

As Italian women constitutionalists, we are writing to express our bewilderment and concern for a decision that is in clear violation of Art. 51 of the Italian Constitution, which guarantees to men and women the right to access public offices on equal terms and which, to this end, entrusts the Italian Republic with the task of adopting specific implementing measures.

We therefore ask you to initiate a serious and profound reflection, within the Assemblies that You preside, on the causes that have led to this serious constitutional breach and on the actions, even of a regulatory nature, suitable to prevent a similar situation, objectively incomprehensible in Italy in 2018, from occurring again in the future.

We remain at Your disposal to provide advice on any future step that you may decide to take to review and discuss this issue.

Confident that this letter will receive Your most kind attention,

Yours sincerely,

the Italian women constitutionalists

Alessandra Algostino, Università degli Studi di Torino 

Francesca Angelini, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”

Adriana Apostoli, Università degli Studi di Brescia

Mariangela Atripaldi, Università degli Studi di Roma Tre

Luisa Azzena, Università di Pisa 

Stefania Baroncelli, Libera Università di Bolzano

Cristina Bertolino, Università degli Studi di Torino

Paola Bilancia, Università degli Studi di Milano

Elena Bindi, Università degli Studi di Siena

Francesca Biondi, Università degli Studi di Milano

Chiara Bologna, Università degli Studi di Bologna

Giuditta Brunelli, Università degli Studi di Ferrara

Camilla Buzzacchi Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca

Maria Agostina Cabiddu, Politecnico di Milano

Marina Calamo Specchia, Università degli Studi di Bari “Aldo Moro”

Roberta Calvano, Università degli Studi di Roma Unitelma Sapienza 

Lorenza Carlassare, Università degli Studi di Padova

Luisa Cassetti, Università degli Studi di Perugia

Elisabetta Catelani, Università degli Studi di Pisa

Ginevra Cerrina Feroni , Università degli Studi di Firenze

Tanja Cerruti, Università degli Studi di Torino

Adriana Ciancio, Università degli Studi di Catania

Ines Ciolli, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”

Cecilia Corsi, Università degli Studi di Firenze

Marilisa D’Amico, Università degli Studi di Milano

Lidianna Degrassi, Universita’ degli Studi di Milano Bicocca

Maria Elena Gennusa, Università degli Studi di Pavia

Maria Cristina Grisolia, Università degli Studi di Firenze

Tania Groppi, Università degli Studi di Siena

Maria Pia Iadicicco, Università degli studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli"

Silvia Illari, Università degli Studi di Pavia

Elisabetta Lamarque, Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca

Isabella Loiodice, Università degli Studi di Bari “Aldo Moro”

Laura Lorello, Università degli Studi di Palermo

Stefania Mabellini, Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”

Elena Malfatti, Università di Pisa

Susanna Mancini, Università degli Studi di Bologna

Valeria Marcenò, Università degli Studi di Torino

Paola Marsocci, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”

Anna Marzanati, Universita’ degli Studi di Milano Bicocca

Ilenia Massa Pinto, Università degli Studi di Torino

Anna Mastromarino, Università degli Studi di Torino

Laura Montanari, Università degli Studi di Udine

Donatella Morana, Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”

Anna Moscarini, socia AIC, attualmente Consigliere Corte di Cassazione

Angela Musumeci, Università degli Studi di Teramo

Anna Maria Nico, Università degli Studi di Bari “Aldo Moro”

Ida Angela Nicotra, Università degli Studi di Catania

Stefania Ninatti, Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca

Elisabetta Palici di Suni, Università degli Studi di Torino

Anna Papa, Università degli Studi di Napoli "Parthenope" 

Barbara Pezzini, Università degli Studi di Bergamo

Marta Picchi, Università degli Studi di Firenze

Valeria Piergigli, Università degli Studi di Siena

Anna Pirozzoli, Università degli Studi "Niccolò Cusano" 

Giovanna Pistorio, Università degli Studi di Roma Tre

Anna Maria Poggi, Università degli Studi di Torino

Margherita Raveraira, Università degli Studi di Perugia

Carmela Salazar, Università degli Studi "Mediterranea" di Reggio Calabria

Lucia Scaffardi, Università degli Studi di Parma

Giusi Sorrenti, Università degli Studi di Messina

Paola Torretta, Università degli Studi di Parma

Chiara Tripodina, Università del Piemonte Orientale

Lara Trucco, Università degli Studi di Genova

Patrizia Vipiana, Università degli Studi di Genova