JUDGMENT No. 197

YEAR 2024

ITALIAN REPUBLIC

IN THE NAME OF THE ITALIAN PEOPLE

THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

composed of:

President: Augusto Antonio BARBERA;

Justices: Franco MODUGNO, Giulio PROSPERETTI, Giovanni AMOROSO, Francesco VIGANÒ, Luca ANTONINI, Stefano PETITTI, Angelo BUSCEMA, Emanuela NAVARRETTA, Maria Rosaria SAN GIORGIO, Filippo PATRONI GRIFFI, Marco D’ALBERTI, Giovanni PITRUZZELLA, Antonella SCIARRONE ALIBRANDI,

has issued the following

JUDGMENT

in the proceedings concerning the constitutional legitimacy of Articles 49, 57, paragraph 6, 71, paragraphs 1 and 3, 83, paragraph 2, and 138 of the Law of the Sicilian Region No. 3 of 31 January 2024 (Various and Financial Provisions), initiated by the President of the Council of Ministers with an appeal notified on 3 April 2024, filed with the Registry on 4 April 2024, registered as No. 14 of the 2024 appeals register and published in the Official Gazette of the Republic No. 19, first special series, of the year 2024.

Having reviewed the deed of constitution of the Sicilian Region;

Having heard the reporting Justice Maria Rosaria San Giorgio at the public hearing of 24 September 2024;

Having heard the State Attorney Giancarlo Caselli for the President of the Council of Ministers and the attorney Enrico Pistone Nascone for the Sicilian Region;

Having deliberated in the Chamber of Council on 24 September 2024.

Considered in Fact

1.– By means of an appeal notified on 3 April 2024, filed on 4 April 2024, and registered as No. 14 of the 2024 appeals register, the President of the Council of Ministers, represented and defended by the State Attorney General's Office, initiated, with reference to Articles 81, 117, second paragraph, letter l), and third paragraph, of the Constitution, questions of constitutional legitimacy regarding various provisions of the Law of the Sicilian Region No. 3 of 31 January 2024 (Various and Financial Provisions), specifically indicated below.

2.– Firstly, Article 49 of the aforementioned regional law is challenged, the violation of which is claimed with Articles 81 and 117, third paragraph, of the Constitution, in relation to Article 8-sexies of Legislative Decree No. 502 of 30 December 1992 (Reorganisation of the regulations on health matters, pursuant to Article 1 of Law No. 421 of 23 October 1992), and Article 2, paragraph 80, of Law No. 191 of 23 December 2009, containing «Provisions for the formation of the annual and multi-year budget of the State (financial law 2010)», as interposed rules.

The aforementioned Article 49, entitled «Adjustment of health fees for frail individuals», establishes, in paragraph 1, that to «address the increased costs arising from the performance of functions by rehabilitation facilities for psycho-physical sensory disabled persons, assisted therapeutic communities, residential health care facilities, and day centres for autistic individuals, a tariff adjustment of 7 per cent for the services provided by the same is recognised, chargeable to the funds of the regional health service, subject to compliance with the national collective labour agreements signed by the most representative trade union organisations». Similarly, paragraph 2 of Article 49 provides for a tariff adjustment, to a maximum of 2 per cent, for dialysis centres.

2.1.– The appellant underscores that the Sicilian Region is subject to a health deficit recovery plan, under which it cannot provide levels of assistance beyond those provided for by national legislation, with the consequent remark that, according to the provisions of Article 2, paragraph 80, of Law No. 191 of 2009, the interventions identified by the plan are binding for the region, which is obliged to remove measures, including legislative ones, and not to adopt new ones that hinder the full implementation of the plan itself.

2.2.– Article 8-sexies of Legislative Decree No. 502 of 1992, it is noted in the appeal, «provides for the remuneration of assistance functions and activities carried out by accredited facilities with the R.H.S. based on the standard cost of production of the assistance programme, or based on predefined tariffs per service (cf. paragraph 1 and paragraph 4)» according to general criteria and within maximum limits of appropriate volumes of activity, in compliance with the principles of efficiency and cost-effectiveness of resources, established by a state provision "agreed" with the Standing Conference for Relations between the State, the Regions and the Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano (paragraphs 3 and 5).

That being stated, the failure to define the calculation criteria used by the regional legislator for the quantification of the tariff adjustments intended to be charged to the funds of the Regional Health Service (RHS) and the related data-sources is denounced, with the consequent lack of «sufficient information» to assess the correctness of the same adjustments, in line with the regional operational programme and its economic-financial framework.

2.3.– The appellant then recalls that although regions are entitled to recognise tariff variations on services charged to the RHS, the guarantee of the economic-financial balance of the RHS itself must remain and compliance with specific legislation on tariffs, which must be further adhered to by regions under a recovery plan, must be ensured.

The Judgment No. 176 of 2023 of this Court is cited, which stated that Article 8-sexies of Legislative Decree No. 502 of 1992 falls «among the fundamental principles in the matter of health protection», as well as, together with the previous Article 8-quinquies, in that of the coordination of public finances, recalling the contribution to which the regions are held in the «achievement of a reasonable point of balance between the need to ensure (at least) the essential levels of health care and that of guaranteeing a more efficient and effective public spending, which is also functional to the pursuit of the public interest of the sector».

The aforementioned principles, observes the appellant, also bind the special statute regions. Therefore, the provisions in question would conflict both with Article 81 of the Constitution, by omitting to identify criteria for determining and covering tariff adjustments, and with Article 117, third paragraph, of the Constitution.

3.– Then, Article 57, paragraph 6, of the Sicilian Region Law No. 3 of 2024, is challenged for violation of Article 117, second paragraph, letter l), of the Constitution, which reserves exclusive legislative competence to the State in matters of civil law, which includes the regulation of companies held by public administrations, in relation, as interposed rules, to Article 1, paragraph 596, of Law No. 160 of 27 December 2019 (State budget for the financial year 2020 and multi-year budget for the three-year period 2020-2022), and Article 11, paragraph 7, of Legislative Decree No. 175 of 19 August 2016 (Consolidated Law on publicly-owned companies).

3.1.– Article 57 of the challenged regional law, entitled «Various Provisions», provides in paragraph 6 that «[p]ending the adoption of the decree referred to in paragraph 6 of Article 11 of Legislative Decree No. 175 of 19 August 2016 and subsequent amendments, the provisions of Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers No. 143 of 23 August 2022 apply to the entities referred to in paragraph 2 of the aforementioned Article 11».

3.1.1.– The appellant deduces the lack of clarity of the regional regulatory provision in the part in which the reference to "entities" contained in paragraph 2 of the aforementioned Article 11 – which provides that «[t]he administrative body of publicly controlled companies is, as a rule, constituted by a sole administrator» – would not allow the scope of application of the provision in question to be identified.

With it – it is argued in the appeal – it would instead be intended to extend, on a transitional basis, to the administrative bodies of public companies subject to supervision and/or control by the Region, the scope of application of the Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers No. 143 of 23 August 2022 (Regulation implementing Article 1, paragraph 596, of Law No. 160 of 27 December 2019 regarding fees, attendance fees and any other emolument due to members of the administrative and supervisory bodies, ordinary and extraordinary, of public entities), whose Article 2, paragraph 2, letter b), expressly excludes from its scope of application the companies referred to in Legislative Decree No. 175 of 2016.

3.1.2.– The provision in question would therefore conflict with the primary legislation, indicated as an interposed parameter, referred to in Article 1, paragraph 596, of Law No. 160 of 2019, mentioned in the preamble by the Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers No. 143 of 2022, which removes publicly-owned companies from the scope of application of the regulatory framework.

3.1.3.– The same provision would also conflict with Article 11 of Legislative Decree No. 175 of 2016, entitled «Administrative and supervisory bodies of publicly controlled companies», which, in paragraph 7, establishes the transitional regulation intended to apply pending the adoption of the decree referred to in paragraph 6 of the aforementioned Article 11.

Such regulation provides that until the issuance of the new Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers, «the provisions of Article 4, paragraph 4, second sentence, of Decree-Law No. 95 of 6 July 2012, converted, with amendments, by Law No. 135 of 7 August 2012, and subsequent amendments, and of the Decree of the Minister of Economy and Finance No. 166 of 24 December 2013 remain in force».

3.1.4.– With the challenged provision, the regional legislator would have therefore extended the regulation established for public entities to the bodies of the companies controlled by the Region, identifying, independently, a different transitional regulation in a matter, such as that of publicly-owned companies, attributable to civil law, which falls under the exclusive legislative competence of the State.

4.– The appellant then deduces the conflict of Article 71, paragraphs 1 and 3, of the Sicilian Region Law No. 3 of 2024 with Articles 81 and 117, third paragraph, of the Constitution, in relation, for the latter, to Article 2, paragraph 80, of Law No. 191 of 2009 and to Article 8-sexies of Legislative Decree No. 502 of 1992, as interposed rules.

4.1.– Article 71, entitled «Rules on specialist facilities accredited to the RHS», provides in paragraph 1 that: «[i]n paragraph 15 of Article 5 of Regional Law No. 9 of 12 May 2020, the words 'in the three-year period 2020-2022' are replaced by the words 'in the seven-year period 2020-2026'. To this end, the accredited specialist facilities shall repay the advance, without additional charges for the health fund, to the RHS exclusively through non-liquidatable extra-budget services, with reference to each individual year of the said seven-year period, with coverage, given the transactional nature of this provision, in the risk fund for litigation of each Company, where the sums have not already been disbursed».

4.1.1.– The challenged provision amends paragraph 15 of Article 5 of the Law of the Sicilian Region No. 9 of 12 May 2020 (Regional Stability Law 2020-2022), entitled «Rule authorising the use of extra-regional funds and the activation of financial instruments», extending the regulation established therein for the three-year period 2020-2022 to the subsequent four-year period 2023-2026.

The appellant notes that the combined provisions of the two rules (Article 5, paragraph 15, of the Sicilian Region Law No. 9 of 2020 and Article 71, paragraph 1, of the Sicilian Region Law No. 3 of 2024) allow the application of the mechanism of adjustment – due by companies accredited with the RHS and intended as a repayment of the advance recognised on the basis of the first sentence of Article 5, paragraph 15, cited – to health services provided extra-budget beyond the initial three-year period 2020-2022, and, as such, not remunerable by the RHS ex se.

This provision would entail a true and proper "extension", regarding the repayment of the advance possibly due by the accredited health facilities, which, implemented "in kind" during the indicated seven-year period, would achieve «a surreptitious "public” remuneration of extra-budget services».

4.1.2.– The State's defense recalls, furthermore, that the Sicilian Region is still subject to the health deficit recovery plan, and invokes the contents, already recalled, of Article 2, paragraph 80, of Law No. 191 of 2009.

4.1.3.– The appellant observes that «if the previous version of the regional rule (which came into force in 2020) was justified during the pandemic period then just started, also in line with similar national measures approved at the time (reference is made to Article 4, paragraphs 5-bis and 5-ter, of Decree-Law No. 34/2020 (converted with Law No. 77/2020, and subsequent amendments and additions))», there would be no justification for the regional measure adopted with the challenged provision, which expresses «an inappropriate use of the Region’s health resources to cover health services of the accredited facilities that otherwise would not be recognised by the RHS».

The provision in question, in conflicting with the objectives of the recovery plan, would have generated «an increase in costs not quantified and not compatible with the health economic balance of the Region, conflicting with Article 81 of the Constitution».

4.1.4.– The appellant also denounces how the "surreptitious" extension of an extra-budget remunerability also constitutes a violation of Article 117, third paragraph, of the Constitution, in relation to Article 8-sexies of Legislative Decree No. 502 of 1992.

Pursuant to the aforementioned Article 8-sexies, the facilities accredited with the RHS are funded according to a predefined global amount which, indicated in the contractual agreements referred to in Article 8-quinquies of Legislative Decree No. 502 of 1992 and integrative of the so-called spending ceiling or budget, is determined based on the assistance functions and activities carried out within and on behalf of the network of reference services, on the basis of predefined tariffs per service, the observance of which, according to settled case law, so as to constitute living law (the judgment of the Council of State, third section, of 18 April 2023, No. 3876 is cited), «represents an unavoidable constraint that constitutes the measure of the services that the National Health Service can provide and that it can afford to purchase from each private provider».

The appellant then invokes the constant case law of this Court – judgments No. 155 of 2023 and No. 130 of 2020 are mentioned – according to which the provisions regarding the health deficit recovery plan, which is aimed at containing public expenditure, are configured as principles of coordination of public finances.

4.2.– The President of the Council of Ministers then challenges paragraph 3 of Article 71 of the Sicilian Region Law No. 3 of 2024, according to which, «[i]n order to support the maintenance of the structural and functional standards provided for by the current legislation and to guarantee the full provision of the relevant essential levels of care (LEA), the Provincial Health Authorities shall annually recognise to the accredited residential health care facilities (RSA) the fixed portion of expenses related to the contracted employees and staff contracted per facility, in proportion to the accredited beds, without additional charges for public finances and within the budget allocated during the contracting phase».

The provision in question would conflict with Articles 81 and 117, third paragraph, of the Constitution, in relation to Article 8-sexies of Legislative Decree No. 502 of 1992, which, the appellant recalls, does not allow the remuneration of individual production factors and the related costs of accredited facilities, but prescribes their remuneration according to the predefined amount, or spending ceiling, indicated in the contractual agreements referred to in Article 8-quinquies.

The appeal deduces that the right to health is constitutionally conditioned by the implementation that the ordinary legislator gives it, in the balance with the other constitutionally protected interests and with the limits deriving from the financial resources available at the time, and it cites the judgment of this Court No. 76 of 2023 for the principles stated therein on health protection and the coordination of public finances, with reference to Articles 8-sexies and 8-quinquies of Legislative Decree No. 502 of 1992.

5.– Article 83, paragraph 2, of the Sicilian Region Law No. 3 of 2024, is also challenged for violation of Article 81, third paragraph, of the Constitution regarding the constraint of financial coverage for expenditure laws.

Article 83, entitled «Provisions on extraordinary commissioners and liquidating commissioners of the optimal territorial areas», in paragraph 2 establishes that: «[p]ursuant to the provisions of paragraph 1, the Region, through the regional Department of Water and Waste, ensures that regional employees do not suffer personal financial losses, possibly intervening with initiatives to protect them, also for legal costs arising from proceedings related to the functions carried out in their capacity as extraordinary commissioner and for any other charge possibly incurred or documented. The charges referred to in this paragraph are covered by the resources of Mission 9, Programme 4, Chapter 242533».

The appellant notes that the challenged provision provides for the assumption by the Region of unquantified charges for the legal costs incurred by employees who carry out the functions of extraordinary commissioners and liquidating commissioners of the optimal territorial areas (ATO), the lack of quantification of which does not allow the verification of the congruity of the financial coverage, through the resources available in the budget.

6.– Finally, the appellant challenges Article 138 of the Sicilian Region Law No. 3 of 2024 for violation of Articles 81 and 117, third paragraph, of the Constitution, in relation to Article 11 of Decree-Law No. 35 of 30 April 2019 (Emergency measures for the health service of the Calabria Region and other urgent measures on health matters), converted, with amendments, into Law No. 60 of 25 June 2019.

Article 138, entitled «Staff of the bodies of the regional health service», in paragraph 1, provides that «[i]n order to guarantee the functioning of the community homes and community hospitals, in line with the objectives of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), the expenditure limits allocated to the staff of the bodies of the regional health service are enriched annually with an increase of 15 per cent».

The appellant recalls that Article 1, paragraph 244, of Law No. 213 of 30 December 2023 (State budget for the financial year 2024 and multi-year budget for the three-year period 2024-2026), adopted for the strengthening of territorial assistance, has increased at the national level the maximum expenditure, already authorised pursuant to Article 1, paragraph 274, of Law No. 234 of 30 December 2021 (State budget for the financial year 2022 and multi-year budget for the three-year period 2022-2024), by EUR 250 million for the year 2025 and by EUR 350 million per year from 2026 onwards, charged to the funding of the National Health Service (NHS), entrusting the allocation of resources among regions and autonomous provinces, also taking into account the objectives of the NRRP, to a specific interministerial decree.

The subsequent paragraph 2 of the challenged Article 138 has provided for an expansion of the staff rosters for the purposes indicated in the previous paragraph, in accordance with the implementing directive (protocol service 1/No. 24514), of the Regional Health Department - department for strategic planning, taking into account the stabilisations provided for by various national provisions.

The appeal recalls in a footnote «Article 1, paragraph 268, letter b), of Law No. 234/2021, Article 4, paragraph 9-septiesdecies, of Decree-Law No. 198/2022 (converted with Law No. 14 of 24 February 2023), and Article 13, paragraph 1-bis, of Decree-Law No. 34/2023 (converted with Law No. 56 of 26 May 2023)».

6.1.– The appellant underscores, regarding the expansion of the staff rosters and regional expenses for personnel, that all regions are subject to specific spending parameters, pursuant to Article 11, paragraph 1, of Decree-Law No. 35 of 2019, as converted, which establishes an annual increase limited to 10 per cent of the increase in the Regional Health Fund (RHF) compared to the previous year, further incentiveable by 5 per cent when, in the individual region, «[e]merges […] objective additional needs for personnel with respect to the hiring powers permitted by this Article, jointly evaluated by the Technical Table for the Verification of Compliance and the Standing Committee for the Verification of the Provision of Essential Levels of Assistance [LEA]».

The regional rule instead provides for an annual "enrichment" of the spending limits allocated to personnel of 15 per cent per year, without conditions.

It is therefore deduced in the appeal that the challenged provision, intervening independently on the national legislation established regarding the containment of personnel costs referred to in Article 11 of Decree-Law No. 35 of 2019, as converted, would be «in direct conflict with Article 81 and 117, third paragraph, of the Constitution» insofar as it is «in manifest deviation from the criteria and conditions defined by the national rule itself, and disregarding the joint verification between State and Region prescribed by the aforementioned rule».

7.– By means of a deed filed on 13 May 2024, the Sicilian Region constituted itself in the proceedings, concluding for the dismissal of the appeal.

7.1.– As a preliminary matter, the Region's defence has reported the filing with the Sicilian Regional Assembly (ARS) of the bill containing «Amendments and interpretations of rules», approved by the Regional Council with resolution No. 158 of 18 April 2024, whose Article 2, in paragraph 11, provides that «Articles 49, 57, paragraph 6, 71, paragraphs 1 and 3, 83, paragraph 2, and 138 are repealed», and has raised the suitability of the repealing provision, once issued, to determine the cessation of the matter of dispute in relation to the challenge proposed in a manner satisfactory to the claims made by the appellant, on the assumption of the non-application of the provisions in the meantime. The settled case law of this Court is cited on this point (by way of example, judgment No. 238 of 2018 and, among many others, judgments No. 185, No. 171 and No. 44 of 2018).

7.2.– With regard to the merits of the questions raised, the Region deduces, in relation to the challenge of Article 49, paragraphs 1 and 3, that the tariff adjustment for the four types of territorial assistance facilities challenged in the appeal (rehabilitation facilities for psycho-physical sensory disabled persons; assisted therapeutic communities; residential health care facilities; day centres for autistic persons) would have been foreseen, even before the approval of the rule, within the recovery plan in line with the latter and in compliance with the relative economic-financial framework. Therefore, the violation, by the normative intervention in question, of Articles 81 and 117, third paragraph, of the Constitution would be excluded.

The respondent specifies on this point that the tariff variations that the Region is entitled to make do not affect the economic balance of the RHS as they are included in the 2023-2025 plan for an amount of EUR 24 million, calculated as follows:

a) as for private rehabilitation assistance, for the cost stated in the Operational Consolidation and Development Programme (POCS), reference was made to regional spending aggregates set for the year 2023 by regional decree No. 1373 of 29 December 2020 and subsequent amendments, equal, overall, to 200.6 million euros, increased by 7 per cent in relation to the provisions of Article 49, paragraph 1;

b) as for residential and semi-residential psychiatric care, the cost was estimated on the basis of the pre-budget of 2023, in line with the regional spending aggregates defined for the year 2023 with regional decree (r.d.) No. 223 of 17 March 2023, increased by 7 per cent of the tariffs referred to in Article 49, paragraph 1;

c) as for RSAs and Day Centres for Autism, the cost was also estimated on the basis of the pre-budget of 2023, in line with the regional spending aggregates defined for 2023 with r.d. No. 223 of 2023, increased by 7 per cent of the tariffs referred to in Article 49, paragraph 1, of the challenged regional law.

The Region deduces that the regional spending aggregates, so-called spending ceilings, take into account the previous tariffs, the amounts of which «if changed, are so exclusively in relation to the need».

Therefore, no question would arise regarding the coverage of the expenditure. As for the criteria used, the respondent represents that «the remuneration of services, determined on the basis of the assistance functions carried out, based on the standard cost of production of the assistance programme, was determined, in compliance with Article 8-sexies of Legislative Decree No. 502/1992, with various regional decrees for the various types of assistance form».

The regional defence further states that the fees have not been increased any more, but have undergone a 5 per cent reduction in 2007 in application of the recovery plan, and that their composition, as it is largely determined by the cost of personnel at 74 per cent and by management costs at 26 per cent – factors that over time have led to an increase in costs that the facilities must bear in order to provide the services required – entails the need for tariff adjustment, also for the contractual renewals that have occurred from 2007 to 2024.

The Region reports that, by a subsequent regional decree, the implementing procedures will be regulated «taking into account, where necessary, the proposals of the ministerial tables for the verification of compliance».

7.2.1.– With reference to Article 57, paragraph 6, of the challenged regional law, the Region excludes that said provision is invasive of the exclusive State legislative competence in matters of civil law, having regard to the interposed rules indicated (Article 1, paragraph 596, of Law No. 160 of 2009; Article 11, paragraph 7, of Legislative Decree No. 175 of 2016).

The regional legislator, faced with the failure to approve the ministerial decree provided for by paragraph 6 of Article 11 of Legislative Decree No. 175 of 2016, which has not yet taken place after almost eight years, would have been «forced to identify a mere reference parameter – for the settlement of fees, attendance fees and any other emolument due to the administrative bodies of public companies subject to supervision and/or control of the Region – in a measure that is still State-related, such as the Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers No. 143 of 23 August 2022».

The Region deduces that it decided to do so because the conditions for the application to the regional public companies of the Decree of the Minister of Economy and Finance No. 166 of 24 December 2013 (Regulation regarding the fees for the directors with powers of the companies controlled by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, pursuant to the former Article 23-bis of Decree-Law No. 201 of 6 December 2011, converted, with amendments, by Law No. 214 of 22 December 2011) – to which paragraph 7 of Article 11 of Legislative Decree No. 175 of 2016 makes explicit reference – did not seem to apply, which, in paragraph 1 of Article 1, establishes that «[t]he provisions of this decree apply to non-listed companies, directly controlled by the Ministry of Economy and Finance».

7.2.2.– As for Article 71, paragraph 1, the Region states that the purpose of the provision, in providing for the adjustment due by the companies accredited with the NHS through extra-budget health services, is to reduce the amount of litigation between health companies, which are the losing party in most cases, and accredited companies during the simultaneous validity of the national legislation (Article 4, paragraph 5-bis, of Decree-Law No. 34 of 19 May 2020, containing «Urgent measures regarding health, support for employment and the economy, as well as social policies related to the epidemiological emergency from COVID-19», converted, with amendments, into Law No. 77 of 17 July 2020) and of the regional legislation (Article 5, paragraph 15, of the Sicilian Region Law No. 9 of 2020), allowing the service-providing facilities to continue providing, without interruption in the indicated seven-year period, health services, thus meeting the needs of users.

The allowance for performing functions, even if already disbursed, would not have led to any increase in expenditure since the higher cost incurred in 2020 would have been absorbed in the seven-year period to meet the needs of users for wider health care, and covered by the litigation fund of each company. Therefore, there would be no violation of Articles 81 and 117, first paragraph, of the Constitution, nor any impairment of the global amount of services provided or the budget, since it is «a matter of compensating, over the seven-year period, the global value that would be compatible with that indicated in the agreements».

Article 71 cited, in conclusion, according to the defence of the Sicilian Region, would respond to a precise choice of the regional legislator, that of containing the costs of litigation arising from private facilities for the recovery of the sums due pursuant to Article 5, paragraph 15, of the Sicilian Region Law No. 9 of 2020.

7.2.3.– As for Article 83, paragraph 2, of the Sicilian Region Law No. 3 of 2024, the respondent states, this would be a financial intervention, implemented in the matter of legal sponsorship and related charges, intended to connect with the current regional rule, of which it would constitute a mere specification and to which it would provide financial coverage.

Within the reference regulatory framework, constituted by Article 39 of the Law of the Sicilian Region No. 145 of 29 December 1980 (Rules on administrative organisation and on the reorganisation of the legal and economic status of the personnel of the Regional Administration), and by Article 24 (entitled «Legal sponsorship») of the Law of the Sicilian Region No. 30 of 23 December 2000 (Rules on the organisation of local authorities), interpreting the previous one and established on the subjects and terms of application of the benefit, the challenged provision would be valid, at this stage, to integrate the coverage of two civil proceedings for an estimated expense of EUR 268,000.00, and would not violate Article 81 of the Constitution.

7.2.4.– With specific regard to the challenge of Articles 71, paragraph 3, and 138 of the Sicilian Region Law No. 3 of 2024, the respondent Region has not made any defences.

8.– By means of a brief filed on 3 September 2024, the aforementioned Region referred to its previous defences and insisted on the partial cessation of the matter of dispute with reference to the fourth ground of appeal, reporting that with Article 32, paragraph 2, letter