The Impact of ECHR on the Italian Legal System: Recent Developments in the Constitutional Jurisprudence

The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between the Italian legal system and the ECHR, in particular the formal position of the ECHR in the national hierarchy of legal norms, in light of the amendment of Article 117 Const. This issue is very debated among scholars, especially in the perspective of the accession of the EU to the ECHR. This matter is strictly linked to the problem of the interaction between the Strasbourg Court and the ICC and ordinary judges. In another words, the analysis of the ‘static’ profile concerning the status of the ECHR in the Italian legal order must be accompanied by the examination of the ‘dynamic’ profile, relating to the role of Strasbourg Court’s case-law in the experience of the domestic legal system. Both of these issues follow from the Constitutional case law. Therefore, they will be dealt with in light of the rulings of the ICC.