Council of State

COUNCIL OF STATE. - The C. of S., which passed from the legislation of the Kingdom of Piedmont (itself an imitator of Napoleonic legislation) into that of the Kingdom of Italy, with notable modifications, had primarily the character of a permanent collegial body of the central administration, endowed with consultative functions in administrative matters; however, until 1865 it also had jurisdiction in matters of administrative litigation, a jurisdiction that was later re-established, with different characteristics, by Law No. 5992 of 31 March 1889, and was subsequently expanded and better defined.

In ecclesiastical matters the C. of S. currently has jurisdiction in the judicial sphere, to judge, not only as regards legality but also on the merits, "appeals concerning sequestrations of temporalities, measures concerning the respective attributions of civil and ecclesiastical authorities, and provisional acts of general security relating to this matter" (art. 27, no. 1 of the Consolidated Text of 26 June 1924, no. 1054; cf. also art. 10, no. 3 of Law of 20 March 1865 annex D); but this jurisdiction is by now almost devoid of practical importance. There nevertheless remains with the C. of S. the jurisdiction to judge appeals against administrative acts (of governmental bodies) in ecclesiastical matters, according to the principles and with the limits that generally govern the challengeability of administrative acts before the C. of S.: therefore, as a rule, an appeal to the C. of S. is admitted only if the administrative act is definitive (that is, not challengeable by hierarchical appeal), and only on grounds of legality (lack of competence, excess of power, and violation of law), not on grounds of merit.

Still in ecclesiastical matters, the C. of S. further has consultative jurisdiction (that is, the governmental authority must first obtain its opinion, though it is not obliged to conform to it) with regard to: the recognition of legal personality for ecclesiastical bodies; the civil recognition of any substantial change in the purpose, in the destination of property and in the manner of existence of any civilly recognized ecclesiastical body; the civil recognition of the imposition of pensions, even temporary ones, on congruable benefices (v. CONGRUA: art. 4 of Law of 27 May 1929, no. 848); the granting of authorization so that an ecclesiastical body may acquire property of a value exceeding one million five hundred thousand lire (D. L. of 4 Nov. 1947, no. 1229; under art. 9 of Law of 27 May 1929, no. 848, the opinion of the C. of S. was necessary whenever the value of the property exceeded 300,000 lire); the denial of the aforementioned authorization, whatever the value of the property (art. 19 of the R. D. of 22 Dec. 1929, no. 2262); the granting of authorization to congruable benefices, to factory boards, and to confraternities not having an exclusive or prevalent purpose of worship, to perform acts exceeding ordinary administration, if the value of the act exceeds certain limits (D. L. of 4 Nov. 1947, no. 1229, which quintupled the value limit established in arts. 24-25 of the R. D. of 22 Dec. 1929, no. 2262).

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