Der Schutz von EMRK-und Unionsgrundrechten in Italien

In recent years, annual reports of various judicial authorities in Italy comprise specific sections on the “dialogue” between national and supranational judges. These express the conscience of the Italian system being part of a comprehensive supranational system which includes EU law as well as the European Convention on Human Rights. Rather than being a hierarchical pyramid this structure is perceived as a network linking different actors. The article analyses the effects on the Italian legal system considering in particular the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. In Italy, there is a strong distinction between issues related to the ECHR and those related to EU law and the debate is clearly concentrating on the former. Three areas are mostly discussed: the application of external, supranational guarantees within the internal, constitutional system and the possibility of directly invoking these in front of an ordinary judge; their position within the hierarchy of legal sources; as well as the triangular dialogue between the European Courts and the Italian Constitutional Court. However, since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty the clear distinction and delimitation between fundamental rights based on the ECHR and those based on Union Law has been subject to considerable pressure.