modern state and its structure

•          The Modern State and its Structure

•The modern State also called constitutional or representative or State of law, has four salient elements:

•1)-a Constitution written mostly, setting the State Organization and the relationship between the State and citizens;

•2)-the principle of separation of powers, namely the institutional distribution of three State functions (Executive, legislative and judicial) differentiated between groups of organs;

•3)-recognition of legal equality of citizens and the so-called constitutional freedom;

•4)-the existence of one or more representative bodies of the people, in particular: the Parliament.•                               

•We will illustrate the modern State by examining the three groups of bodies at the three fundamental functions of the State.

•Parliament:

•The legislative body of the modern State is Parliament, consisting of one or two in elective assemblies.

•When Parliament consists of two assemblies its called bicameral; If the assembly is unique its rather called unicameral;

•Constitutional systems with unicameral Parliament, the only Legislative Chamber is entirely composed of individuals mostly called elected member•       

•Federal States or strong regional decentralization, the second room usually gathers the representatives of member States or regions.

•The Parliament in its composition should express the will of the citizens. It follows that, among all the citizens and Parliament must build up a relationship of representation or political representation and improve the relationship between electors and elected;

•People as a whole cannot implement directly the exercise of sovereign functions, so it was seen the necessity of obtaining an exercise by means of  representation: the Parliament became itself the people's representative body.

•Electoral systems:

•The elected House is made up of people elected by the people.

•The right to elect is an individual political right of the citizen. It  constitutes a right to function, thus the electoral function is a public function which leads to people's self-government under the form of Government.

•You could argue that the citizen as he expresses his vote, not only meets his self-interest, but fulfills a function of the State.

•The electoral function is exercised by individual voters, as members of an electoral college consisting of the body which, we think  we should recognize the elective power.
  The electoral right is a public right for every citizen who fulfills the requirements to elect or be elected.

•Active electorate: is the set of conditions under which the citizen can vote (art 8 Const.).

•Passive electorate: all the conditions required for the citizen can be elected validly (art 51 Const.);

•The General requirements for electoral capacity are:

•a)-citizenship; b)-age; c)-sex; d)-the residence; e)-the absence of specific electoral inability (are e.g. excluded from voting the prohibitions for disablement of mind, the disabled, the bankrupt, the convicted criminal, when the sentence amounts to the interdiction by public offices and so on).

•Under the passive electorate, are distinguished:

a)-the ineligibility conditions which exclude the possibility of choice for the individual's personal situation (art 51 and 71 Const.); and

b)-conditions of incompatibility which ensure a contrast between the nominations to a member of the parliament and the present Office held (art 51 Const.)

When the electoral capacity is attributed to all citizens it says it has implemented the universal suffrage; When, the capacity is reserved to a limited number of citizens such as only those who have a certain level of education or have a certain restricted census, it has implemented restricted suffrage.

•Organization of the Parliament:

•Elective legislative houses, shall comply in their internal organization. First of all every house elects its officers: a President, a number of Vice-Presidents.

•The houses in order to function freely enjoy considerable autonomy. This autonomy occurs under viewpoints:

•a)-houses/rooms validate themselves the election of its members;

•b)--determine by regulation the modalities of the exercise of its functions;

•c)-the process by which parliamentary acts are deliberate

•d)-the members of the parliament enjoy criminal immunity;

•e)-members of the Parliament are subject to the disciplinary power.

•The rooms have or exercise their functions for a predetermined time which is called term (legislature).

•Functions of the Parliament:

•The main function entrusted to Parliament is the legislative function.

•Certain constitutions do not ascribe (give) to Parliament only the power to enact ordinary laws, but extend that power to the enactment of constitutional laws.

•Parliament under the legislative function does not act only ordinary law and constitutional laws: many parliamentary acts present the content of administrative acts or Government, such as the annual approval of the State budget (art 66 Const.), the granting of citizenship to foreign benefactors, the approval of the State of war (art 68 Const.), approving international treaties (art. 67 Const.) etc.

•Members of Parliament enjoy special rights in order to enable them to comply with parliamentary functions in complete independence, from threats, constraints or limitations of freedom thanks to the work of other organs of the State (per opera di altri organi dello Stato) .

•These prerogatives are intended to ensure the operation of the legislative Chambers, in their entirety, as constitutional bodies. They are granted to the Member of Parliament for the duration of the legislature.

•Members prerogatives are translated in specific immunity/protection:

•a)-Firstly, they are not liable to criticism for the opinions issued or for ratings (votes) in the room: this implies (cio’ importa) the exclusion of any legal responsibility (criminal, civil or disciplinary action) for such acts.

•b)-Secondly, enjoy criminal immunity for any crime committed, in the sense that, members of Parliament cannot be arrested, searched  on the person or his own domicile, subject to any criminal conviction without prior approval of the room to which they belong;

•Members of Parliament represent not their college, but the entire nation, and not receive any imperative mandate from their electors; they do not receive remuneration by way of salary but receive an indemnity in respect of reimbursement.

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•                         Cont.

•The rooms proceeded to their works by means of, discussions deliberations, and interrogations,.

•Discussions are made by individual members on the basis of agendas prepared by the parliamentary President of the room.

•Following deliberations by voting; the votes are obvious (palese) (e.g. roll-call vote (per appello nominale), by a show and sitting (per alzata e seduta), for Division into sectors (per divisione in settori) or secret (segrete).

•The interrogations are the questions put by a member to a Minister or to the Government as a whole.

•The rooms also have the power of investigation (art. 69 Const.) exercised by parliamentary committees, elected again for a time, and addressed to target the work both of individual MPs, both members of the Government and public offices.