PETITION. - The "right of petition" to the supreme authorities of the State (addressed to the king, as in the English "act" of rights, or to the Chambers, as in the constitutions of recent centuries, including the Albertine Statute), has been counted among the liberties or among civic rights or among constitutional guarantees.
It has never had very great importance, and its effectiveness has diminished with the progressive affirmation of other means of manifesting the popular will and desires (press, public meetings, political parties, etc.). Nevertheless the institution has been preserved even in the most recent charters, including the Italian one, it being held that in certain circumstances it may have some useful employment. It is a right belonging to all citizens (in the past, according to a disputed opinion, also to foreigners), solely to "request legislative measures or set forth common needs" (art. 50). The petition may therefore be, besides collective, also individual, but never for the interests of individuals, since for these one must apply to the competent administrative or judicial bodies. The examination of it is governed by the internal regulations of the Chambers. Thus, according to the very recent regulation of the Senate, the president passes the petitions to the standing committees, which have the power to ascertain, preliminarily, their authenticity, report monthly on their content, and the Senate then deliberates on the further course of the examination. When they refer to bills already presented, they are examined together with those bills themselves.
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Ferruccio Pergolesi