ORDER NO. 82
YEAR 2026
ITALIAN REPUBLIC
IN THE NAME OF THE ITALIAN PEOPLE
THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
composed of:
President: Giovanni AMOROSO;
Judges: 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, Massimo LUCIANI, Maria Alessandra SANDULLI, Roberto Nicola CASSINELLI, Francesco Saverio MARINI,
has issued the following
ORDER
in the proceedings regarding the constitutionality of Art. 12-bis, paragraphs 1, 3, and 4 of Legislative Decree no. 286 of 25 July 1998 (Consolidated Act of provisions concerning immigration regulations and rules on the status of foreigners), introduced by Art. 8, paragraph 1, letter b), of Law Decree no. 20 of 10 March 2023 (Urgent provisions regarding legal entry flows of foreign workers and the prevention and combating of irregular immigration), converted, with amendments, into Law no. 50 of 5 May 2023, initiated by the Preliminary Hearing Judge of the Ordinary Court of Syracuse in the criminal proceedings against H.E.F. N. and M.S.M.A. E., by order of 16 October 2025, registered as no. 10 of the 2026 register of orders and published in the Official Gazette of the Republic no. 5, first special series, of the year 2026.
Having examined the petition for intervention filed by A.M.H.Y. H.;
having heard the Reporting Judge Francesco Saverio Marini, in the chambers of 18 May 2026, scheduled pursuant to Art. 5, paragraph 1, of the Supplementary Rules for proceedings before the Constitutional Court for the decision on the admissibility of the intervention of A.M.H.Y. H.;
having deliberated in the chambers on 18 May 2026.
Whereas, by order of 16 October 2025 (r.o. no. 10 of 2026), the Preliminary Hearing Judge of the Ordinary Court of Syracuse raised, with reference to Articles 3, 27 (third paragraph), 11, and 117 (first paragraph) of the Constitution – the latter in relation to Article 49(3) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – questions of constitutionality regarding Art. 12-bis, paragraphs 1, 3, and 4, of Legislative Decree no. 286 of 25 July 1998 (Consolidated Act of provisions concerning immigration regulations and rules on the status of foreigners), introduced by Art. 8, paragraph 1, letter b), of Law Decree no. 20 of 10 March 2023 (Urgent provisions regarding legal entry flows of foreign workers and the prevention and combating of irregular immigration), converted, with amendments, into Law no. 50 of 5 May 2023;
that the referring judge challenges paragraphs 1 and 3 of the aforementioned Art. 12-bis on the grounds of a "lack of proportionality of the statutory penalty"; paragraph 4, which imposes a "prohibition on balancing circumstances"; and, finally, complains of the "failure to provide for a mitigating circumstance for minor offenses with the possibility of balancing in terms of equivalence or prevalence [over] aggravating circumstances";
that the President of the Council of Ministers intervened in the proceedings, represented and defended by the State Attorney General's Office, requesting that the questions be declared inadmissible and, on the merits, unfounded;
that, by a filing deposited on 4 May 2026, A.M.H.Y. H. intervened in the proceedings, claiming to hold a qualified interest directly and immediately related to the matter at hand, as he was convicted of the crime under the challenged Art. 12-bis of the Consolidated Act on immigration and sentenced to seventeen years, nine months, and ten days of imprisonment, by judgment no. 270 of 24 June 2025 of the Preliminary Hearing Judge of the Ordinary Court of Agrigento, against which he has filed an appeal;
that, during the first-instance proceedings, at the hearing of 28 January 2025, the intervener had raised an objection of constitutionality regarding the aforementioned Art. 12-bis, which was declared manifestly unfounded by order of the Preliminary Hearing Judge of the Court of Agrigento on 11 March 2025;
that by provision of 8 May 2026, notified to the parties, the chambers of 18 May 2026 were scheduled for the proceedings concerning the decision on the admissibility of the intervention of A.M.H.Y. H.
Considering that, pursuant to Art. 5, paragraph 1, of the Supplementary Rules – as amended by the resolution of 12 March 2026, published in the Official Gazette of the Republic no. 94, general series, of 23 April 2026, and which entered into force fifteen days after its publication, pursuant to Art. 9 of the same resolution – this Court shall decide on the admissibility of the interventions referred to in Art. 4, paragraphs 3 and 4, by resolution to be adopted in chambers;
that Art. 4 of the Supplementary Rules governs the procedures for intervention in constitutional proceedings by subjects other than the parties to the original proceedings;
that the same Art. 4, in the wording in force at the time of the filing of the intervention, establishes, inter alia, that the act of intervention must be filed "within the peremptory time limit of twenty days from the publication of the order in the Official Gazette";
that, in the present case, the referral order registered as no. 10 of the 2026 register of orders was published in the Official Gazette no. 5, first special series, on 4 February 2026, but the intervention was filed on 4 May 2026, well beyond the aforementioned time limit established by Art. 4 of the Supplementary Rules;
that the amendment to the Supplementary Rules, approved by the aforementioned resolution of 12 March 2026, did not concern the time limit for the intervener to appear, which remained unchanged from the previous regulation;
that, therefore, even relying on the subsequent amendments to the Supplementary Rules, which also concern Art. 4, the conditions for a *restitutio in integrum* (reinstatement of the time limit) are not met in the present case;
that, therefore, the intervention of A.M.H.Y. H. must be declared inadmissible.
Having regard to Articles 4 and 5 of the Supplementary Rules for proceedings before the Constitutional Court.
for these reasons
THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
declares the intervention of A.M.H.Y. H. inadmissible.
Decided in Rome, at the seat of the Constitutional Court, Palazzo della Consulta, on 18 May 2026.
Signed:
Giovanni AMOROSO, President
Francesco Saverio MARINI, Reporting Judge
Valeria EMMA, Chancellor
Deposited in the Registry on 18 May 2026
The anonymized version is consistent, in text, with the original