13 November 1995

Doc. 7415    2nd edition

WRITTEN DECLARATION No. 244 on the ban on returning to Italy imposed upon the descendants of the late King of Italy

(2nd edition, originally tabled on 5 October 1995

      The undersigned, members of the Assembly,

1.       Considering that the XIIIth transitional provision of the Italian Constitution, adopted in 1948, stipulates in paragraph 2 that the former kings of the House of Savoy, their spouses and male descendants are prohibited from entering and staying on Italian territory;

2.       Noting that several years after the aforementioned law was adopted, the late king of Italy, Umberto II, died in Geneva and is buried in France;

3.       Noting that his descendants, viz his son Vittorio Emanuele and grandson Emanuele Filiberto, are still not entitled to return to Italy, although they had nothing to do with the historical events which gave rise to the decision to introduce the ban;

4.       Considering that it is obvious that the aforementioned provision of the Italian Constitution is outdated, anachronistic and contrary to human rights;

5.       Noting that the Italian parliament has for a long time been trying to revoke this provision (in its current term, the Lower House has been considering draft repealing Acts) but has not succeeded because of the intricacies of the procedure under Italian law for revoking constitutional Acts, requiring extreme diligence in the pursuit of parliamentary proceedings for the purposes of revocation;

6.       Noting that the Act in question is dealt with in Article 3 (paragraph 2) of Protocol No. 4 to the European Convention on Human Rights which states that :"No one shall be deprived of the right to enter the territory of the State of which he is a national";

7.       Considering that, consequently, the Italian Constitutional Act is manifestly contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights;

8.       The undersigned call upon the Italian parliament to revoke forthwith the XIIIth transitional provision of the Italian Constitution.

Signed:

La Russa, Italy, EPP

Büchel, Liechtenstein, EPP

Hagård, Sweden, EDG

Billing, Sweden, EDG

Ruka, Albania, -

Ruffy, Switzerland, SOC

Fischer, Germany, EPP

Christodoulides, Cyprus, UEL

Schwimmer, Austria, EPP

Lupu, Romania, EPP

Parisi, Italy, EPP

Spahia, Albania, -

Latronico, Italy, LDR

Serra, Italy, LDR

Bársony, Hungary, SOC

Columberg, Switzerland, EPP

de Lipkowski, France, EDG

de Puig, Spain, SOC

Poptodorova, Bulgaria, SOC

Daniel, France, EDG

Mignon, France, EDG

Jaani, Estonia, EPP

Figel, Slovakia, EPP

Zingeris, Lithuania, EDG

Iwinski, Poland, SOC

Szymański, Poland, SOC

Grzyb, Poland,EPP

Akselsen, Norway, SOC

Couveinhes, France, EDG

Gotzev, Bulgaria, EPP

Muehlemann, Switzerland, LDR

Arata, Italy, EPP

Bianchi, Italy, EPP

Gabrielescu, Romania, EPP

Toshev, Bulgaria, EDG

Total = 35

*       SOC : Socialist Group

      EPP : Group of the European People's Party

      EDG : European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group

      UEL : Group of the Unified European Left