dichiarazioni internazionali sui diritti dell’uomo devono sì essere fondamentali parametri da utilizzare
dell’individuazione del significato storico e concreto dell’art. 2 ma non possono costituirne esse
stesse ilcontenuto“ (Grisotti, 1981:128) See also Mori (1983:346-49) and Chiavario(1969:47-49).
as outside o f th e sco p e o f the g en eral clause concerning international law e m b o d ie d in Article 10(1) o f the Constitution. However, it has b e e n stressed that th e second p arag rap h
(secondo comma) of this Article em bodies a special provision concerning a
specific kind o f international treaties: those treaties w hich regulate the legal situation of foreign citizens in Italy. A ccording to this Article of th e Constitution, d o m estic law regarding th e legal status of foreigners must com ply with international treaties on the m atter ratified by Italy199. It has been argued, therefore, that Article 10(2) of the Constitution situates international treaties concerning foreigners as a valid p a ram eter of the constitutionality of statutes200. By virtue of this Article, m oreover, the Convention would be ap p licab le by th eCorte Costituzionale as a so u rce for the constitutional control
of posterior dom estic statutes. This possibility provided by Article 10(2) of the Constitution, however, would b e an exception to th e general status of international treaties within the Italian legal o rd e r201: Article 10(2) w ould apply only to th e extent to which the Convention, or any other international treaty, concerns th e legal situation of foreigners. T h e Convention would then be applied as a constitutional p aram eter only to the extent to which it regulates fundam ental rights of an y non-Italian person un d er the jurisdiction of Italy202. Accordingly, a posterior dom estic statute in which fundam ental rights of fo reig n citizens in Italy are defined, could b e declared unconstitutional if it conflicts with th e Conventions’ provisions.(2) T
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199 Article 10(2) of the Constitution reads as follows: “The legal status of foreigners is regulated by law in conformity with international rules and treaties'.
200 See a development of this point in
Cassese
(1969:938 ff). See alsoChiavario
(1969:52-54) 201 As has been put forward, the main criticism to the inclusion of the Convention under Article 10(1) of the Constitution is that “essa trascura un elemento importante: la Costituzione, pur omettendo di predisporre qualsiasi congegno di adattamento al diritto pattizio, ha inteso prefigurare una garanzia costituzionale di talune categorie di trattati, e precisamente di quelli regolanti la condiziona giuridica de lo straniero'(Cassese,
1969:920). This is not, however, the only exception to the general rules concerning international treaties in Italy provided by Article 10(2) of the Constitution: according to this Article, international treaties on foreign citizens’ rights should be always incorporated by a domestic act with the status of statutory taw; that is, theordine di
essecuzione of these kind of treaties will holds always the hierarchical position of parliament
statutes. SeeCassese
(1969:932).202 As is well known, Article 1 ECHR states that T h e High contracting Parties shall secure to
everyone within their jurisdiction the rights and freedoms defined in Section I of this Convention*
[emphasis added]Although this w ould not imply a n e w position for the C onvention within the d o m e s tic legal hierarchy203, it would how ever introduce a paradoxical situation in the d o m estic protection of fundam ental rights: p osterior dom estic statutes could be declared unconstitutional w h enever a conflict arises with a n international treaty on the matter, but o nly if the fundam ental rights of foreign citizens in Italy are concerned. T h e paradoxical situation would clearly b e that, at least at a first glance, th at the fundam ental rights of Italian citizens would b e sbjected to a lesser constitutional protection than the rights of fo reig n ers204. This has b e e n the reason w h y th e limited possibility of a constitutional status for the Convention concerning foreigners’ rights has been criticized205.
Admittedly, a constitutional status for th e Convention only a s far as non-Italians a re concerned barely com plies with th e non discrimination clause em b o d ied in Article 1 4 E C H R 206. A p ro p o s e d solution to this p roblem has been put forw ard, however, so th a t this contradiction could be avoided b y th e extension of such a guaranty (the international treaty as a valid param eter of constitutional adjudication) to Italian citizens a s well: the com bined application of Article 10(2) Cl, the m ention of th e inviolable fu n d a m e n ta l rights of Article 2 Cl and the non-discrimination clause of Article 3 Cl 207
203
The implications of Article 10(2) of the Constitution would be that "per assolvere il compito di uniformare l’ordinamento alla categoria dei trattati che essa contempla, invalida ogni legge ordinaria incompatibile con le norme di adattamento in questione. Quella legge ordinaria diviene viziata da illegittimità costituzionale sopravvenuta", but, however,these treaties "conservano però anche in questa ipotesi l’efficacia di legge ordinaria, venendo a distinguersi dagli atti normativi primari soltanto per la circostanza di fruire di un garanzia costituzionale"(Cassese, 1969:933)
2 0 4 What would be in contradiction with the spirit of the Convention as well: '..può sembrare paradossale che proprio la Convenzione di Roma - significativa espressione della tendenza ad ampliare il raggio di tutela internazionalistico dei diritti dell’uomo oltre l’ambito della tradizionale politica di "garanzie per lo straniero" - finisca per ricevere, nel ambito dell’ordinamento italiano, una particolare posizione costituzionale soltanto in quanto comprensiva di siffatte garanzie. ."(Chiavario,
1969:54).
2 0 5 See a critical position in Grisotti (1981:128-29)
2 0 6 Artide 14 ECHR reads as follows: T h e enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status."
2 0 7 Article 3 of the Italian Constitution reads as follows: "All citizens are invested with equal social status and are equal before the law, without distinction as to sex, race, language religion, political opinions and personal or social conditions"
would th erefo re imply that the Convention would act as a param eter of constitutional adjudication even when applied to Italian citizens. As a result, Article 10(2) Cl w o u ld also lead to a
constitutional valuator th e Convention when the fundam ental rights o f Italians
w ere involved208.2 ) Recently, Article 7 6 of th e Constitution has b een quoted as another m ean to grant a constitutional status to th e Convention in Italy. As w as the case of Article 10(2) Cl, how ever, it would g ra n t a constitutional status only to a part of the C onvention. Article 76 o f the Constitution allows th e Governm ent to p ass legislation provided th at the Parliament has authorized that delegation. According to Article 76 Cl, the Parliam ent can set th e limitations and criteria which the governm ent m ust respect w h en th e d e le g a te d legislation is passed 209. By th e application of the legal principle of the
ecceso di
delega, further, the Corte Costiiuzionale can rule the unconstitutionality of a n y piece of
legislation p a s s e d by th e governm ent under Article 7 6 of the Constitution w h en ever the limitations a n d criteria fixed by th e Parliament have not b een respected.T h e Parliament authorized the governm ent to pass a new Criminal P rocedure C o d e in 1987. It contains a general clause of observance of the C onvention an d other international instruments as one of the restrictions to be resp ected b y the governm ent210. Accordingly, it has been stressed, any provision of th e Criminal Procedure C o d e which conflicts with the ECHR would b e a breach o f the parliam entary limitations to th e governm ent delegation, and therefore it would im ply and
ecceso di
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208 "Una attenta analisi del testo costituzionale porta considerare da un lato l’art 2 che parla di diritti inviolabili di tutti, e l’art 10,2 che individua in concreto questi diritti, fornendo loro, relativamente agli stranieri, la garanzie costituzionali prima menzionata [thè Convention as a parameter of thè constitutionality of domestic law]; dal altro, l’art 3, che, secondo quanto affermato dalla Corte, sancisce il principio dell'uguaglianza di trattamento tra i cittadini e stranieri, in relazione agli stessi diritti fondamentali. Dalla lettura coordinata di questi tre articoli, sembra allora corretto desumere che, almeno per quanto concerne i diritti fondamentali, lo straniero ed il cittadino debbano godere della stessa tutela e, perciò, anche della medesima garanzia costituzionale di tali diritti.'
[Tanca,
A (1984) "Costituzione italiana, diritti individuali e carcerazione preventiva", in RivistaTrimestrale di Diritto Pubblico 34 pages 921-311 at 927].
209 Artide 76 of thè Italian Constitution reads as follows: T h e exercise of legislative functions may be delegated to thè Government save by thè laying down of principles and criteria and only for a limrted period of time and for define objects."
210 See thè directive number 45 of thè parliamentary delegation