Groundbreakers. Female justices and presidents in the Italian Constitutional Court

The history of the Italian Constitutional Court (‘ItCC’) reflects a significant gender disparity, with the absence of women justices until 1996, 40 years after its establishment. Despite subsequent appointments, women remain a minority on the Court: only nine out of 125 justices are women, with just two being elected as presidents. This underrepresentation poses challenges for research, compounded by the Court’s secrecy regarding deliberations and the scarcity of historical and political studies on female justices at the ItCC. To address this gap, we propose an empirical methodology based on interviews with the female justices. In fact, due to the Court’s collegial nature, relying solely on case-law analysis provides only a partial picture, as individual opinions are not discernible.