The Italian debate about the ratification of Protocol n. 16

This paper focuses on the controversial debate related to the Italian ratification of Protocol no. 16, recently animated by the decision of Italian Chamber of Deputies to postpone the ratification: behind that parliamentary decision there is a lively discussion around the role of the Italian constitutional Court and the fear of problematic relationships between the request to the ECtHR for an advisory opinion and the incidental question of constitutionality, in cases of potential violation of the Convention by national law . The main argument alleged against ratification is the risk to turn Strasbourg judge into a “European Constitutional Supreme Court”. The analyses seeks to answer whether these dangers are overstimated and concludes in favor of including Italian Constitutional Court among the highest courts that may request an advisory opinion. The new mechanism could strengthen virtuous forms of cooperation between judges, allowing to bring to the attention of ECtHR interpretative questions that move and take into account the specificities of Italian legal system.