COUNCIL OF STATE. - The Council of State, which passed from the legislation of the Kingdom of Sardinia (itself modeled on the Napoleonic system) into that of the Kingdom of Italy with notable modifications, primarily had the character of a permanent collegial body of central administration, vested with advisory functions in administrative matters; however, until 1865 it also had jurisdiction over administrative disputes, a competence which was later restored, albeit with different characteristics, by Law No. 5992 of March 31, 1889, and was subsequently expanded and better defined.
In ecclesiastical matters, the Council of State currently has jurisdiction in adjudicating, not only on the legality but also on the merits, "appeals concerning the sequestration of temporalities, measures relating to the respective powers of civil and ecclesiastical authorities, and provisional measures of general security pertaining to this matter" (Art. 27, No. 1 of the Consolidated Text of June 26, 1924, No. 1054; cf. also Art. 10, No. 3 of the Law of March 20, 1865, Annex D); however, this jurisdiction is now almost devoid of practical significance. The Council of State retains jurisdiction to adjudicate appeals against administrative acts (of government bodies) in ecclesiastical matters, according to the principles and within the limits governing the challengeability of administrative acts before the Council of State in general: thus, appeals to the Council of State are generally admitted only if the administrative act is final (i.e., not subject to appeal through hierarchical recourse) and only on grounds of legality (incompetence, excess of power, and violation of law), not on grounds of merit.
In ecclesiastical matters, the Council of State also has advisory competence (i.e., the government authority must first seek its opinion, though it is not obliged to follow it) regarding: the recognition of legal personality for ecclesiastical entities; the civil recognition of any substantial change in the purpose, allocation of assets, or mode of existence of any ecclesiastical entity recognized civilly; the civil recognition of the imposition of pensions, even temporary ones, on benefices subject to congrua (v. CONGRUAR: Art. 4 of the Law of May 27, 1920, No. 848); the granting of authorization for an ecclesiastical entity to acquire assets valued over one and a half million lire (Royal Decree-Law No. 1229 of Nov. 4, 1947; under Art. 9 of the Law of May 27, 1920, No. 848, the Council of State's opinion was required whenever the value of the assets exceeded 300,000 lire); the denial of such authorization, regardless of the value of the assets (Art. 19 of the Royal Decree of Dec. 22, 1929, No. 2262); the granting of authorization to benefices subject to congrua, to fabbricerie, and to confraternities not exclusively or predominantly devoted to worship, to perform acts exceeding ordinary administration, if the value of the act exceeds certain limits (Royal Decree-Law No. 1229 of Nov. 4, 1947, which quintupled the value limit established in Arts. 24-25 of the Royal Decree of Dec. 22, 1929, No. 2262).