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Fascist Italy's New Legislative System

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

H. Arthur Steiner
H. Arthur Steiner
Affiliation:
University of California at Los Angeles
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Extract

In the historic chamber of the Montecitorio on March 23, 1939, the Fascist régime unveiled its latest legislative model, the third in a series. The royal session of the Senate and the new Fascist and Corporative Chamber (Camera dei Fasci e delle Corporazioni [C. F. C.]) opened the thirtieth legislature just twenty years after the founding of the fascio of Milan.

Type
Foreign Government and Politics
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 33 , Issue 3 , June 1939 , pp. 456 - 465
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1939

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References

1 Law, January 19, 1939, no. 129, Gazzetta Ufficiale [G. U.], February 14, 1939, no. 37; a text also appears in Bollettino parlarnentare [B. P.], XII (December, 1938), 71–80Google Scholar.

2 Law, January 5, 1939, no. 59, G. U., February 3, 1939, no. 28. “In the event of war, members of the Fascist Chamber shall have the privilege of being called to arms immediately and assigned to front-line units, regardless of age or physical condition.…“

3 See Arena, C. et al. , La Camera dei Fasci e delle Corporazioni (Florence, 1937)Google Scholar for a representative collection of the views of leading Italian jurists.

4 Giornale d'Italia (Rome), October 8, 1938Google Scholar.

5 Popolo d'Italia (Milan), November 20, 1936Google Scholar; Foglio d'Ordini del P. N. F. (November 19, 1936), no. 170. The committee consisted of MM. C. Ciano, Starace, Bottai, Lantini, and Solmi, the latter serving as rapporteur.

6 XXIX Legislatura, Camera dei Deputati, Doc 2655. The subsequent legislative relazione was prepared by the same G. Acerbo whose name is associated with the reform of 1923. C. D. Doc. 2655-A.

7 Law, January 19, 1939, cited, art. 4. Membership in the Fascist Grand Council is determined by the law of December 14, 1929, no. 2099, G. U., December 14, 1929, no. 292, as amended to include several additional ministers and officials.

8 Law, January 19, 1939, art. 3. The current party statute was approved by the Grand Council, March 11, 1938 (Foglio d'Ordini del P. N. F. (March 19, 1938), no. 194; text also in B. P., XII (April, 1938), 35–44Google Scholar). Legal sanction was given by the R. D., April 28, 1938, no. 513, G. U., May 18, 1938, no. 112. In the final official form, the statute includes as an authorized preface the text of Mussolini's well-known essay, “The Political and Social Doctrine of Fascism,” which thereby acquires legal force as the definitive statement of Fascist principles.

As amended by R. D., November 21,1938, no. 2154, G. U., February 13,1939, no. 36, Article 17 of the party statute confers membership in the National Council on (1) the members of the National Directory of the party, which includes the party secretary, three vice-secretaries, the administrative secretary, and eight other members; (2) the 94 federal secretaries of the provincial organizations; (3) the party inspectors; (4) the secretary, vice-secretary, and two inspectors of the Foreign Fasci (Fasci italiani all'estero); and (5) the presidents of two official veterans' organizations. Compare Article 9, party statute of 1932, R. D., November 17, 1932, no. 1456, G. U., November 21, 1932, no. 268.

9 P. N. F. statute, 1938, cited, art. 15.

10 No. 10, G. U., January 25, 1939, no. 20; text also in B. P., XII (December, 1938), 111–118Google Scholar.

11 Compare law, February 5, 1934, no. 163, G. U., February 20, 1934, no. 42, and related decrees, tabulated in Steiner, H. A., Government in Fascist Italy (New York, 1938), p. 115Google Scholar. In the new dispensation, the beets and sugar corporation is dropped, and the food oils corporation has been merged with the wine corporation to form a new wines and oils corporation. The metallurgy and mechanics corporation has been subdivided into two separate corporations, and a new liquid fuel corporation is created. The total number remains fixed at 22.

12 Law, January 19, 1939, art. 9.

13 Regolamento della Camera dei Fasci e delle Corporazioni, December 14, 1938, art. 1. Text in B. P., XII (December, 1938), 81 ff.Google Scholar

14 The minimum age requirement of 30 years fixed by Article 40 of the Statuto was reduced to 25 years by the electoral law of 1928, R. D. September 2, 1928, no. 1993, G. U., September 12, 1928, no. 210, art. 102.

15 Regolamento C. F. C., cited, art. 65.

16 Spencer, H. R., Government and Politics of Italy (Yonkers, 1932), pp. 158–189Google Scholar; H. A. Steiner, op. cit., pp. 69–79.

17 Under the law of December 24, 1925, no. 2263, G. U., December 29, 1925, no. 301.

18 Under the law of January 31, 1926, no. 100, G. U., February 1, 1926, no. 25.

19 Data for the twenty-eighth legislature from Annuario statistico italiano, 1936, p. 247; data for the twenty-ninth legislature from B. P., XII (December, 1938), 65–66Google Scholar. Sixty per cent of the government bills enacted by the Chamber in the twenty-eighth legislature were for the conversion of decree-laws; the proportion in the twenty-ninth legislature appears to have been comparable, although final statistics are not available.

20 C. D. Doc. 2655-A, cited.

21 La Tribuna (Rome), December 15, 1938Google Scholar.

22 Law, January 19, 1939, cited, art. 2.

23 B. P., XII (December, 1938), 82–97Google Scholar, in 71 articles.

24 Ibid., pp. 100–110, in 58 articles.

25 R.D.-L., January 14, 1937, no. 234, G. U., March 16, 1937, no. 63; R.D.-L., January 18, 1937, no. 235, idem.

26 Law, January 19, 1939, art. 15.

27 No. 2693, G. U., December 11, 1928, no. 287. Bills dealing with the following subjects are recognized as “constitutional”: (1) succession to the throne, and the powers and prerogatives of the crown; (2) the composition and function of the Grand Council, the Senate, and the Chamber of Deputies; (3) the powers and prerogatives of the Head of the Government; (4) the power of the executive authority to issue decrees; (5) syndical and corporative organization; (6) relations between the state and the Holy See; and (7) treaties modifying the boundaries of the state and the colonies, or which surrender territories.

28 Cited. The following subjects are listed: (1) expenditures for certain administrative functions; (2) regulations concerning the judicial authority; (3) the organization of the Council of State and the Court of Accounts; and (4) the protection of magistrates and other unremovable officers.

29 Law, January 19, 1939, arts. 16, 17.

30 Regolamento C. F. C., art. 27.

31 Ibid., arts. 28, 29.

32 Compare Regolamento of the Chamber of Deputies, May 1, 1929, arts. 46–50, in Manuale Parlamentare, XXIX Legislature (Rome, 1934), pp. 95–97Google Scholar.

33 Regolamento del Senato, arts. 28–46.

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