ORDER NO. 168
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 pronounced the following
ORDER
in proceedings concerning the constitutional legitimacy of Article 29, paragraph 5, of Legislative Decree No. 116 of 13 July 2017 (Organic reform of the honorary judiciary and other provisions concerning justices of the peace, as well as transitional provisions relating to honorary judges in service, pursuant to Law No. 57 of 28 April 2016), as substituted by Article 1, paragraph 629, letter a), of Law No. 234 of 30 December 2021 (State budget for the financial year 2022 and multi-year budget for the 2022–2024 period), brought by the Council of State, Seventh Section, in the proceedings pending between D. D.S. et al. and the Ministry of Justice, by order of 24 March 2026, registered under No. 62 of the 2026 order register and published in the Official Gazette of the Republic, First Special Series, No. 17 of the year 2026.
Having regard to the appearances entered by L. D.B. et al.;
having regard to the applications for intervention submitted by F. B. et al. and C. B. et al.;
having heard the Judge Rapporteur Giovanni Pitruzzella at the chambers session of 5 October 2026, scheduled pursuant to Article 5, paragraph 1, of the Supplementary Rules for Proceedings before the Constitutional Court, for the decision on the admissibility of the intervention by F. B. et al. and C. B. et al.;
deliberated in the chambers session of 5 October 2026.
Whereas the Council of State, Seventh Section, by order of 24 March 2026, registered under No. 62 of the 2026 order register, raised issues concerning the constitutional legitimacy of Article 29, paragraph 5, of Legislative Decree No. 116 of 13 July 2017 (Organic reform of the honorary judiciary and other provisions concerning justices of the peace, as well as transitional provisions relating to honorary judges in service, pursuant to Law No. 57 of 28 April 2016), as substituted by Article 1, paragraph 629, letter a), of Law No. 234 of 30 December 2021 (State budget for the financial year 2022 and multi-year budget for the 2022–2024 period), with reference to Articles 24, 111, and 117, first paragraph, of the Constitution – the latter in relation to Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and Article 6, paragraph 1, of the European Convention on Human Rights – pursuant to which the "participation” of honorary judges in service as of the date of entry into force of Legislative Decree No. 116 of 2017 in the evaluation and confirmation procedures referred to in paragraph 3 of the same Article 29 "shall entail the waiver of any further claim of any nature whatsoever arising from the prior honorary relationship”;
whereas, by two separate deeds filed on 18 and 19 May 2026, fifty-four honorary tribunal judges (GOT) and deputy honorary prosecutors of the Republic (VPO), represented by the same counsel, requested to intervene in the proceedings;
whereas the said persons stated that they are appellant parties in separate proceedings pending before the Council of State (appeal register No. 4300 of 2025), brought for the reformation of the judgment of the Regional Administrative Court for Lazio, First Section, No. 20056 of 11 November 2024;
whereas in those proceedings – stayed by order No. 2439 of 23 March 2026, pending the ruling of this Court on the issues previously raised by the Council of State, Seventh Section, by order of 24 September 2025, registered under No. 204 of the 2025 order register – the appellants, by a brief filed on 6 February 2026, raised an objection of constitutional illegitimacy regarding the same provision challenged herein, for violation of Articles 3, 24, 113, and 117, first paragraph, of the Constitution, the latter in relation to Articles 19, paragraph 1, second subparagraph, of the Treaty on European Union and 47 of the CFREU, as well as Article 6, paragraph 1, of the ECHR and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the ECHR;
whereas, on the basis of the foregoing, they requested to be admitted to intervene pursuant to the currently applicable Article 4, paragraph 4, of the Supplementary Rules for Proceedings before the Constitutional Court;
whereas, by two separate briefs filed on 19 June 2026, the same individuals further illustrated the grounds substantiating the admissibility of their intervention;
whereas on 29 September 2026 two of the fifty-four applicants for intervention filed a supplementary brief aimed at arguing the merits of the issues raised by the referring judge.
Considering that, by resolution of this Court of 12 March 2026, amendments were introduced to the Supplementary Rules for Proceedings before the Constitutional Court, which entered into force on 8 May 2026;
whereas, pursuant to the new Article 4, paragraph 4, of the aforementioned Supplementary Rules, authorization may be granted for "the intervention of parties to other proceedings, pending before a judge referred to in Article 23 of Law No. 87 of 11 March 1953 as of the date of publication of the referral order in the Official Gazette, in which the challenged provision must be applied and one of the parties has already formulated, within that deadline, an objection of constitutional illegitimacy concerning the same provision”;
whereas this Court must therefore proceed in chambers to decide upon the admissibility of the interventions, pursuant to the currently applicable Article 5, paragraph 1, of the Supplementary Rules;
whereas paragraph 2 of the latter provision establishes that "[t]he registrar shall immediately notify the decree setting the chambers session referred to in paragraph 1 to the intervener, to the appearing parties, as well as to the interveners referred to in Article 4, paragraphs 1 and 2,” and that only "[t]he latter and the appearing parties shall have the right, within ten days of such notification, to file electronically concise briefs concerning exclusively the issue of the admissibility of the intervention” (orders No. 102 and No. 101 of 2026), whereas any filing of supplementary briefs in proximity to the public hearing, pursuant to Article 7, paragraph 2, of the Supplementary Rules, is permitted solely to those whose intervention has already been deemed admissible by this Court (order No. 101 of 2026);
whereas, in light of the aforementioned provisions, the briefs filed on 19 June and 29 September 2026 are inadmissible;
whereas, however, the conditions for the admissibility of the interventions pursuant to the aforementioned Article 4, paragraph 4, are met, given that the interveners: a) are parties to other proceedings pending, as of the date of publication of the referral order in the Official Gazette (29 April 2026), before the Council of State; b) in those proceedings, brought claims partially overlapping with those brought by the parties to the main proceedings herein, claiming rights predating their stabilization, such that the challenged Article 29, paragraph 5, of Legislative Decree No. 116 of 2017 applies thereto; c) in the same proceedings, prior to the aforementioned publication of the referral order, formulated an objection of constitutional illegitimacy concerning the same provision.
Having regard to Articles 4 and 5 of the Supplementary Rules for Proceedings before the Constitutional Court.
on these grounds
THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
1) declares admissible the interventions made in the proceedings registered under No. 62 of the order register of 2026;
2) declares inadmissible the briefs filed by the interveners pursuant to Article 5, paragraph 2, and Article 7, paragraph 2, of the Supplementary Rules for Proceedings before the Constitutional Court;
3) grants the same interveners a time limit until 13 October 2026 for the filing of briefs pursuant to Article 7, paragraph 2, of the Supplementary Rules.
So decided in Rome, at the seat of the Constitutional Court, Palazzo della Consulta, on 5 October 2026.
Signed:
Giovanni AMOROSO, President
Giovanni PITRUZZELLA, Rapporteur
Igor DI BERNARDINI, Registrar
Signed: Igor DI BERNARDINI
The anonymized version conforms in text to the original