Il diritto privato tra Stato e Regioni: riflessioni comparatistiche

Abstract

Traditionally, in Italy Private Law has always been considered exclusive to the State central authority. Even after the Constitutional Reform of 2001, which gave Regions a great deal of legislative powers, they still struggle to regulate these aspects of human relationships. Nonetheless, in these recent years, we are witnessing the slow arising of Regional Private Law. Very often, such legislation is challenged by the State before the Constitutional Court for its supposed inconsistency with the Italian Constitution, but it is not unlikely to see the Constitutional Court dismiss these appeals on the grounds of irrelevance. Moreover, it is still unclear which subjects are to be considered “private”. Any distinction becomes even harder when a different legal system is involved. In fact, terms like “private law” and “state” can acquire a very different meaning not only because of merely linguistic reasons, but also on legal and cultural grounds. For reasons duly explained in the first chapter, a significant comparison between the Italian legal system and all major European legal systems seems less meaningful than one might expect. Therefore, the focus is shifted to the common law tradition, particularly the U.S., where the distinction between private and public law has little bearing - if any - and where the federal experience can offer new solutions to a younger multi-level system of government