Because on the Copasir the constitutionalists toss Fico and Casellati
Embarrassment in Parliament for the appeal of constitutionalists and jurists to the presidents of the Chamber and Senate on the Copasir summit that would belong to the opposition. Here are facts, rumors and insights
Embarrassment at the top of Parliament for the appeal of constitutionalists and jurists to the presidents of the Chamber and Senate on the Copasir summit – the Committee for the security of the Republic, or the parliamentary control committee of the Secret Services – which is up to the opposition, therefore to Brothers of Italy.
THE TEXT OF THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS AND JURISTS APPEAL ON COPASIR
"The law, regulations and parliamentary practice require that a representative of the opposition sit in the chairmanship of Copasir, while two months after the new executive takes office, the control and guarantee body of the Information and Security Services continues to be chaired by a member of the parliamentary majority ". This is what 40 constitutionalists, jurists, professors of law and political science underline, in a letter-appeal to the presidents of the Senate and of the Chamber, Elisabetta Casellati and Roberto Fico, who have actually washed their hands on the issue so far, postponing the ball to the parliamentary groups: "Fico and Casellati leave Copasir to the League", the communist daily Manifesto criticized for this in recent days.
THE SIGNATORS OF THE APPEAL TO FICO AND CASELLATI ON COPASIR
Among the signatories of the document, on which other adhesions are being gathered, are the president emeritus of the Constitutional Court, Valerio Onida, the former president of the Constitutional Court, Antonio Baldassarre; the professors of constitutional law Alfonso Celotto, Tommaso Frosini, Fulco Lanchester and Alessandro Morelli; the political scientists Piero Ignazi, Alessandro Campi and Gianfranco Pasquino (who, like Ignazi, for example, has a progressive approach). At the top of Palazzo Madama and Montecitorio, the authors of the document ask to take "all those necessary initiatives, which, even on the basis of similar precedents, can restore the conditions of constitutional legality in the best interest of the good performance of parliamentary activity". And speaking of precedents, recalling the permanence of Massimo D'Alema at the helm of Copasir after the birth of Govenro Monti, they underline that this is the "typical exception that confirms the rule".
THE POSITION OF THE CHAMBER AND SENATE VERTICES
But what had Fico and Casellati said? On the Copasir the ball goes to the parties, in essence. They decide what to do with the presidency, today the prerogative of the League with Raffaele Volpi. “After a month of political-parliamentary battle led by the Brothers of Italy to obtain the office that by law would belong to the opposition, the presidents of the Senate and the Chamber, Casellati and Fico, intervene with a letter to settle the controversy. In reality they do it only partially ”, wrote Repubblica in recent days.
WHAT FICO AND CASELLATI A VOLPI SAY
In the text, sent to the president of Copasir Volpi himself, in addition to explaining that he cannot intervene with any act of authority, for example with the dissolution of the Committee, they cite the "D'Alema precedent" of 2011 under the Monti government : the then exponent of the Democratic Party, president Copasir, had been elected in opposition but with the birth of the technical executive he had effectively entered the majority, remaining in his place. The problem, write the second and third offices of the state, is the composition of the bicameral body. "A possible revision of the composition of the Committee – it reads – aimed at guaranteeing parity between the majority and the opposition, would determine a clear over-representation of the Fratelli d'Italia groups". In short, five of the ten parliamentarians should belong to Giorgia Meloni's party. The principle of balance between political forces would not be respected: Fdi, they point out, represents 6 percent of the current composition of the two branches of Parliament. The result, la Repubblica : the previous one of 2011 sets the standard, the current Copasir is not changed. If the parties do not take responsibility for electing a new president, Volpi cannot be substituted by authority. "The objective of responding to the need underlying the request formulated by the Fratelli d'Italia groups can therefore be achieved exclusively through general agreements between the majority and opposition political forces, the feasibility of which we reserve the right to verify in the appropriate forums", they conclude the two presidents of the House and Senate.
Who today – it is rumored in parliamentary circles – a sigh of relief: no major newspaper has given space to the news of the manifesto-appeal also signed by left-wing jurists and political scientists.
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HERE IS THE FULL LETTER FROM CONSTITUTIONALISTS AND JURISTS TO THE CHAMBER AND SENATE PRESIDENTS ON COPASIR
Honorable President of the Senate
Prof. Avv. Elisabetta Casellati
Honorable President of the Chamber of Deputies
Dr. Roberto Fico
Rome, April 20, 2021
Distinguished President Casellati
Distinguished President Fico,
the undersigned scholars of constitutional law, public law and political science submit to the SSVV Ill.me some brief reflections on the composition of the Parliamentary Committee for the security of the Republic, following the formation of the Cabinet chaired by Prof. Mario Draghi.
In contemporary pluralist democracies, the separation of powers , one of the cornerstones of the rule of law , is necessarily declined also as a guarantee of oppositions and their constitutional role . The protection of minorities constitutes, moreover, an essential defense of the parliamentary dialectic and, therefore, of the democratic principle.
In this framework are inserted the provisions of legislative, parliamentary and conventional rank which guarantee adequate spaces for participation in the parliamentary opposition groups and the guidance of some fundamental guarantee bodies. For the same reason, also the customary and conventional sources that guide the nominations and elections of the members of the Constitutional Court and the CSM, lead to concrete arrangements that provide for the presence within the same institutions of different cultural orientations, visions or sensibilities and , therefore, to a truly pluralist composition.
These are principles, rules or, sometimes, simple "constitutional regularities" that have their roots in the undeniable constitutional duty of political solidarity (Article 2 of the Constitution), which requires all subjects of the Republic to quell conflicts and set aside party interests when the "rules of the game" and, therefore, the pillars of that mutual trust on which every form of organized coexistence is based. It is no coincidence, moreover, that according to the Constitution (Article 64, paragraph 1), parliamentary regulations must be approved with an (absolute) majority higher than the (simple) one to confer or remove confidence in the Government (Article 94).
In this context, the legislator intended to assign a precise constitutional value also to the role of the representatives of the opposition groups within the parliamentary body entrusted with the delicate tasks of connection between the Parliament and the Information and Security System of the Republic, both in its political-governmental component (Prime Minister, any delegated Authority and Ministers who are members of the CISR), as well as in its bureaucratic-administrative and operational part (DIS, AISE and AISI).
As is known, in fact, art. 30 of the law 3 August 2007, n. 124, the CO.PA.SIR. it is made up of “ five deputies and five senators, appointed by the Presidents within twenty days of the start of each legislature
of the two branches of Parliament in proportion to the number of members of the parliamentary groups, guaranteeing in any case equal representation of the majority and of the oppositions and taking into account the specificity of the Committee's tasks ".
Furthermore, on the basis of the third paragraph of the same provision "(…) The president is elected from among the members belonging to the opposition groups and an absolute majority of the members is required for his election ."
Following the formation of the “Draghi” government and the aggregation of the very large parliamentary majority that supports the same Executive in both branches of Parliament, the guarantee structure clearly envisaged by the legislator is altered. The law, regulations and parliamentary practice require that the presidency of CO.PA.SIR. a representative of the opposition is seated, while two months after the new Executive takes office, the control and guarantee body of the Information and Security Services continues to be chaired by a member of the parliamentary majority.
Previous parliamentarians also confirm the rule. Indeed, following the formation of the “Monti” government – to which only the Lega Nord Group denied their trust – a member of the only opposition party should have been elected to the Presidency of the bicameral supervisory body. In this sense, the President of CO.PA.SIR. on. Massimo D'Alema – having voted his confidence in the new government, in accordance with the choice of his parliamentary group – resigned from office and this precisely to facilitate his replacement with a member of the opposition. However, on that occasion, the necessary alternation with an exponent of the League was not carried out, as by unanimous decision of the parliamentary groups (and, therefore, also of the Carroccio) it was decided to derogate from the rule by confirming the Hon. D'Alema. The case just mentioned (which concerned, however, parliamentary groups that were confronted with a “technical” and not a “political” government) therefore constitutes the typical exception that confirms the rule. In that case, it was a specific application of the customary principle of parliamentary law known as nemine contradicente . In fact, in accordance with the aforementioned customary rule – based on the assumption of the so-called availability of parliamentary law – in the absence of objections and, therefore, unanimously, it is possible to operate in derogation of the rules of the Chamber and Senate Regulations.
Moreover, precisely in the current legislature the predecessor of the current President of the Co.pa.sir., The Hon. Guerini, did not hesitate to resign on 4 September 2019 when the parliamentary group he belongs to decided to pass from the opposition to the majority, voting confidence in the Conte II government.
In a form of parliamentary government like the Italian one, the democratic dialectic takes place not so much between the government and parliament, but rather between the executive, with its majority, and the parliamentary opposition. For this reason, laws, parliamentary regulations, conventions and parliamentary practices provide for spaces, roles and procedures aimed at guaranteeing opposition, up to the point of delineating a real constitutional statute. A statute of the opposition that demands strict compliance, especially in an emergency context such as the one that the entire nation and its institutions have been facing for over a year.
In the framework described, therefore, in the absence of a unanimous agreement to the contrary, the Presidency of CO.PA.SIR. it must be covered by a member of the only parliamentary group who has not expressed confidence in the government in office. This is both in compliance with an express legislative provision, and in compliance with a fundamental principle of the pluralist constitutional state, in which the classic principle of separation of powers also assumes the features of the checks and balances that guarantee the balance of institutions and the contestability of political power.
In the light of the above considerations, we hope that the SSLL – taking note that the appeal for a political solution has unfortunately not had the desired follow-up – will undertake, by virtue of the authority that derives from their role as first Guarantors of compliance of the parliamentary norms within the Chambers, all those necessary initiatives, which, also on the basis of similar precedents, can restore the conditions of constitutional legality in the best interest of the good performance of parliamentary activity.
With observance.
A ntonio Baldassarre, president emeritus of the Constitutional Court
Giuseppe Bernardi , professor of private law institutions, La Sapienza University of Rome
Felice Blando , Professor of Institutions of Public Law, University of Palermo
Gianluca Brancadoro , professor of commercial law, University of Teramo
Alessandro Campi , full professor of Political Sciences, University of Perugia
Agostino Carrino , Professor of Public Law, Federico II University of Naples
Massimo Cavino , Professor of Public Law, University of Eastern Piedmont in Turin
Alfonso Celotto , full professor of Constitutional Law, Roma Tre University of Rome
Salvatore Curreri , professor of Constitutional Law, Kore University of Enna
Firoleto D'Agostino , Tar president retired
Giovanni D'Alessandro , full professor of Public Law Institutions, Unicusano di Roma
Roberto Di Maria , full professor of Constitutional Law, Kore University of Enna
Giampiero Di Plinio , full professor of public law institutions, Gabriele d'Annunzio University of Chieti and Pescara
Claudio Franchini , full professor of Administrative Law, Tor Vergata University of Rome
Tommaso Edoardo Frosini , Professor of Comparative Public Law and Constitutional Law, Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples
Felice Giuffrè , full professor of public law institutions, University of Catania
Piero Ignazi , full professor of Comparative Politics, University of Bologna
Fulco Lanchester , full professor of Italian and comparative constitutional law, La Sapienza University, Rome
Isabella Loiodice , full professor of Comparative Public Law, Aldo Moro University of Bari
Vincenzo Mannino , Professor of Roman Public Law, Vice Rector of the Rome 3 University of Rome
Stefano Mannoni , Professor of History of Medieval and Modern Law, University of Florence
Francesco Marini , full professor of public law institutions, Tor Vergata University of Rome
Carlo Mirabile , professor of commercial law, La Sapienza University of Rome
Alessandro Morelli , full professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Messina
Ida Angela Nicotra , full professor of Institutions of Constitutional Law, University of Catania
Gianfranco Pasquino , Emeritus Professor of Political Science, University of Bologna
Pier Luigi Petrillo , full professor of Comparative Law, Unitelma Sapienza University of Rome
Cesare Pinelli , Professor of Public Law, La Sapienza University of Rome
Anna Poggi , full professor of constitutional law, University of Turin
Daniele Porena , Professor of Institutions of Public Law, University of Perugia
Ezekia Paolo Reale , general secretary of the International Institute for Criminal Law and Human Rights, Syracuse
Maria Grazia Rodomonte , Professor of Comparative Public Law, La Sapienza University of Rome
Leopoldo Sambucci , full professor of commercial law, University of Foggia
Salvatore Sfrecola , president of the Administrative Jurists Association, Rome
Giuliana Stella , Professor of State Doctrine, Federico II University of Naples
Daniele Trabucco , Professor of Italian and Comparative Constitutional Law and State Doctrine, Free Academy of Studies of Bellinzona / INDEF Center for Higher Studies of Bellinzona
Fausto Vecchio , professor of Constitutional Law, Kore University of Enna
Giuseppe Vecchio , Professor of Private Law, University of Catania
Claudio Zucchelli , honorary deputy president of the Sato Council
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/perche-sul-copasir-i-costituzionalisti-sballottano-fico-e-casellati/ on Thu, 22 Apr 2021 10:56:02 +0000.