Senato del Regno
The Senato del Regno (Eng. "Senate of the Kingdom") was one of the two chambers of parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont and the Kingdom of Italy that was created in 1861 . From 1848 to 1865 the Senate had its official seat in the Palazzo Madama in Turin , until 1871 in the Uffizi (teatro mediceo) in Florence and then until 1946 in the Palazzo Madama in Rome . The senators were appointed by the king for life. After the abolition of the monarchy, the Senato del Regno was replaced by the Senato della Repubblica on the basis of the republican constitution of 1948 .
history
From 1529 to 1848 the Supreme Court in Turin was called the "Senate". After the revolution of 1848 , which forced Karl Albert of Savoy to enact a constitution ( Statuto Albertino ) and thus to introduce a constitutional monarchy , the name Senate was transferred to one of the two chambers of parliament. In addition to the Senate as the upper house , there was also the Chamber of Deputies , which was elected according to census suffrage as the lower house . Both chambers of parliament were equally entitled to legislate.
The Kingdom of Italy, which emerged from Sardinia-Piedmont in the Risorgimento , had from the beginning the goal of moving its capital to Rome. Because of the negative attitude of the Pope was moved to parliament and the government initially located in the central Florence, 1870 then after the elimination of the Papal States to Rome. There were plans for a new parliament building there, but the two chambers have remained in converted city palaces to this day. The inner courtyard of Palazzo Madama was converted into a conference room for the Senate.
composition
According to Article 33 of the Albertino Statute , the monarch could appoint an unlimited number of men of merit as senators for life, provided they were at least 40 years old and belonged to the following office holders or groups of people:
- Archbishops and Bishops
- President of the Chamber of Deputies
- Members of the Chamber of Deputies after three legislative terms or at least six years of membership
- minister
- ambassador
- Envoys with at least three years of service in this function
- First chairman and chairwoman of the Court of Cassation and the Court of Auditors
- First chairman of the courts of appeal
- Attorneys General at the Court of Cassation and other senior public prosecutors after certain minimum periods of service
- Generals and admirals; Major generals and rear admirals, however, only after five years in the rank
- State councilors after five years in this office
- Other high officials after certain minimum periods of service
- Members of the Academy of Sciences with at least seven years membership
- Ordinary members of the Higher Council for Public Education with at least seven years membership
- All men who had rendered outstanding services to the fatherland
- Persons who have paid at least 3,000 lire in direct taxes for three years on the basis of their property or work
According to Article 34, princes of the royal family were legally part of the Senate when they reached the age of 21, but there they only received the right to vote from the age of 25.