The Italian Model for the Constitutionalisation of Economic and Social Freedoms and Rights

Abstract

The Constitution of the Italian Republic of December 27, 1947, in Articles 13–54, which constitute Part I of the Constitution, addresses the issue of citizens’ rights and freedoms. The prominence given to the provisions relating to the individual’s status within the state, positioned immediately after the “Fundamental Principles” and before the regulations of Part II, titled “Political Organization,” which deal with the structure of the system and the principles governing the functioning of state organs, was a deliberate decision by the Italian framers of the constitution. The provisions concerning the rights and duties of citizens are grouped by the Italian Constitution into four categories, corresponding to: a) civil relations (Articles 13–28, which align with what would later be identified as personal rights and freedoms), b) moral and social relations (Articles 29–34, which correspond to social rights), c) economic relations (Articles 29–47, concerning the economic sphere), and d) political relations (Articles 48–54, which regulate political rights and freedoms). Through the application of legal and dogmatic analysis, and drawing on systemic and historical-constitutional findings, the author highlights the precedent-setting positioning of the provisions concerning the citizen’s status within a distinct segment of constitutional regulation, placed ahead of what typically takes priority in earlier constitutions namely, the provisions dealing with the structure, mutual relations, and functioning of state bodies. Moreover, referencing comparative law studies, the author underscores the absence of the conceptual category of “individual freedoms” and the lack of a clear distinction in the text of the Italian Constitution between “human rights (freedoms)” and “citizens’ freedoms.”