The Constitutional Court as Legislator

The article examines the law-making power of the Italian Constitutional Court and the ways in which it cooperates with other constitutional actors, particularly Parliament, in the exercise of such power. Based on a classification proposed by Gustavo Zagrebelsky, the paper examines the ways in which the Court acts as a mere negative legislator, as a legislator (adopting a construction that goes beyond the statutes or gesetzesübersteigende Rechtsfortbildung), and as a co-legislator. Ultimately, the paper offers conclusive remarks concerning the degree of the Court’s intervention into quintessentially political matters.