Public interest litigation e contenzioso strategico nell'ordinamento italiano. Profili critici e spunti dal diritto comparato

Public interest and strategic litigation in Italy. Critical remarks and lessons from comparative law

Abstract

Public interest litigation is a well-known category of strategic law suits aimed at guaranteeing collective interests and contributing to foster social change. Such kind of litigation developed in the United States although it has spread to other countries belonging to the civil law tradition, including Italy. Some recent Italian cases have reached a significant attention due to their impact on Italian legislation. Indeed some cases of public interest law suits aimed at guaranteeing electoral rights actually brought to the approval of electoral reforms further to the rulings of the Italian Constitutional court. Other similar initiatives have been carried out with respect inter alia to bioethics, climate change litigation, immigration. It is also possible to appreciate a general increase of the number of strategic and public interest associations as well as a broader interest for the matter among the civil society. The present research aims at investigating the actual impact of P.I.L. in Italy by analysing the most recent cases.