The Italian Court Through the Looking-Glass: A Dialogue Between Constitutional Justices with Sabino Cassese and Daria de Pretis

Résumé En

The following interview with Professors Sabino Cassese and Daria dePretis, Emeritus Justice and Justice, respectively, of the Italian Constitutional Court, took place on 12.11.2015 as part of Dialoghi Italiani, a discussion group of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (MPIL) in Heidelberg, dedicated to examining significant developments in the Italian political and institutional world.The meeting – held in Italian and addressed to both Italian and international academics – followed the format of a double interview. Focusing on the most relevant issues that affect the functionality and working methods of the Italian Constitutional Court, it touched on the protection of acquiredrights, the introduction of the dissenting opinion, internal decision-making dynamics and the role of comparison and informal networks of justices. The result was a lively exchange of ideas and opinions – at times convergent, at times divergent – but always highly informative and insightful for an understanding of the true nature and role of the Court.The title was inspired by the sequel to “Alice in Wonderland,” whose incipit depicts Alice standing in front of a mirror, wondering if the reflectionof the room, she sees indeed corresponds to reality and what lies beyond herview. This dialogue-interview originated from the same curiosity that inspired Alice to ponder what she saw and what the mirror did not reveal. We are grateful to Emeritus Justice Sabino Cassese and Justice Daria de Pretis as well as to the Directors of the MPIL, Armin von Bogdandy and Anne Peters, for allowing us to conduct this interview and thus observe the Court “through the looking-glass”.