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The Constitutional Court has overturned a provincial law in South Tyrol relating to the restart measures adopted during the pandemic, declaring it unconstitutional. The announcement was made by the lawyer Luca Crisafulli from Bolzano.
“Time is a gentleman,” declared Crisafulli, referring to the Court’s decision. Four years ago, the Provincial Council of Bolzano had passed legislation to bring forward reopenings in the region, compared to the rest of Italy. Following this law, shops, hairdressers, bars, restaurants and museums in South Tyrol reopened before they did in other parts of the country.
During the night session that saw the approval of the law on May 8, 2020, governor Arno Kompatscher underlined the difficulties encountered by families and businesses, recognizing that the following weeks would still be challenging. “The law perhaps disappoints some expectations, but it was right to continue along this path together,” Kompatscher had stated. However, the central government had challenged the provincial law, taking the case to the Constitutional Court.
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Now, with sentence number 50/2024, the Court established the unconstitutionality of the law in the part in which it imposed on the owners of catering and food and drink establishments the obligation to request the green certification required by state legislation. According to the Court, the Province of Bolzano did not have the authority to issue such a provision, since “international prophylaxis” falls within the exclusive competence of the State.
According to Crisafulli, the sanctions imposed at the time were therefore illegitimate, and claims that someone will have to take responsibility for it. The lawyer expressed regret, noting that such an outcome was widely foreseeable.
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