Public Powers under War Legislation

This article focuses on the entire body of Italian legislation concerning war, starting with the law that conferred legislative power upon the Government: Law N. 671 of 22 May 1915. Focusing on the Italian legislation issued during the First World War, the article analyses the purposes and the ideas that inspired the Government’s normative production in each sector affected by the composite legislation concerning war: the administrative organization, the economy and industrial production, the control of the «inner front» and
criminal law, the welfare state and private law. The text is based on two important research themes: the first is the historical and juridical theme of the Government-Parliament relationship, and the second is the legislative process that consisted in the extension of the State’s competence into spheres that traditionally pertained to private relationships, such as the organization of private industrial production or of social security. In this sense, the text seeks to contribute to the comprehension of an important period in Italian institutional and juridical history.