The «Nightmare of the Dictatorship of the Past» and Trust in the Government

The article traces the development of the Parliamentary motion of confidence in the Italian legal system. The motion, as a tool for regulating relations between the Parliament and the Government, gradually acquired constitutional significance, even without any written provisions to the effect, as early as 1848. The twenty years of Fascism and the consequent suppression of the Parliament mark a point of arrest in the development of the Parliamentary motion of confidence. When the Fascist regime fell, decreto legge luogotenenziale («lieutenant law decree») no. 98/1946 (second provisional Constitution) regulated, for the first time, the Parliamentary motion of confidence and its procedures. The motion was subsequently approved by the Constituent Assembly, thereby becoming part of the Italian Constitution.