Principles to protect
The recognized hunting associations (Federcaccia, Enalcaccia, ANLC, Arcicaccia, ANUUMigratoristi, Italcaccia) and the CNCN – National Hunting and Nature Committee, gathered in the single Control Room of the hunting world, have recently filed a report with the Constitutional Court regarding the admissibility of the abrogative referendum through the use of digital signatures. The initiative, represented by Alfonso Celotto, Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Roma Tre, aims to protect the principles of democratic representation potentially threatened by the current referendum system, exposing it to unconsidered risks and depriving it of the necessary guarantees of protection.
Balance of the democratic system
The report highlights how the ease of collecting signatures online, introduced in 2020 and subsequently modified, risks compromising the balance of the Italian democratic and representative system, violating Articles 1 and 75 of the Constitution. The threshold of 500.000 signatures, originally conceived by the constituents as a guarantee of the seriousness of the referendum requests, is emptied of its meaning by the excessive simplification of the digital collection process, if not appropriately weighted by a constitutional reform. "The absence of balancing mechanisms in the collection of digital signatures could transform the referendum from an instrument of direct democracy to a means of political pressure in the hands of organized groups, distorting its original constitutional function", underlined Alfonso Celotto, Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Roma Tre.
Constitutional legitimacy
The Joint Control Room of the Hunting World therefore requested during today's hearing before the Constitutional Court to evaluate the constitutional legitimacy of this rule to prevent an improper use of the referendum instrument as a whole, thus also protecting the hunting sector from possible negative repercussions and ensuring that decisions in this and other matters remain the result of a democratic, representative and well-considered process to guarantee all citizens (source: Federcaccia).
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