SINDACO
In Italian public law, the *sindaco* (mayor) is at the head of local administration, whether autonomous or governmental, since he holds a dual capacity as head of the municipal administration and as a government official, thereby providing a clear example of institutional union between the offices of two distinct legal entities: the *Comune* (municipality) and the State. This dual capacity has always assumed specific importance not only with regard to his complex functions, but also in relation to the procedures for his appointment and possible removal.
The municipal administration is governed by various elective honorary bodies, two of which are collegial—the Council and the *Giunta*—and one individual—the *sindaco*—who is elected by the Council from among its members for a term of four years (at its first meeting, by secret ballot and through an elaborate procedure requiring special qualified majorities: Consolidated Text, 5 Apr. 1951, no. 203). In addition to presiding over the Council and the *Giunta* (a smaller body than the former, from which it is elected internally), the *sindaco* performs essentially executive and representative functions, while the Council holds the deliberative power. Consequently, the *sindaco* oversees all municipal offices, supervises the discipline of their employees, ensures compliance with municipal regulations, enters into contracts with third parties as approved by the Council, signs documents relating to municipal revenues and expenditures, represents the *Comune* in legal proceedings, etc., and is responsible for his actions to the Council itself (Consolidated Text on Municipalities and Provinces, 4 Feb. 1915, no. 148).
As a government official (art. 152 of the Consolidated Text on Municipalities and Provinces, 1915, and art. 54 of the Consolidated Text on Municipalities and Provinces, 1934), the *sindaco* finds himself in a position of hierarchical dependence vis-à-vis the state organs of the branch of administration in which his activity takes place (primarily the Ministry of the Interior). Thus, he ensures the maintenance of public order, informing the higher authorities thereof, and exercises the functions proper to the public security authority in municipalities where such authority is lacking; he may also issue urgent measures in matters of building regulations and local police; he oversees the keeping of civil status registers, transcribes marriage certificates, and may himself officiate at marriages; he supervises services related to civil registration, military conscription, and the compilation of electoral lists; he may take various measures in matters of public health; etc.
In case of absence or impediment, his functions are performed by the assessor to whom he has delegated authority (or, in the absence of such delegation, by the senior assessor or councillor); while, particularly in larger municipalities, he delegates the various branches of municipal administration to the different assessors. Detailed legislative provisions govern the cases in which it is necessary to suspend the *sindaco* from his duties or even remove him from office (by a reasoned resolution of the Council passed by a two-thirds majority, or by an order of the prefect, or by a decree of the Head of State for serious reasons of public order, or due to forfeiture following a conviction for an offence entailing ineligibility or, at least, a custodial sentence of more than one year). The *sindaco* may also cease to hold office before the end of his four-year term due to the dissolution of the entire municipal administration, or by voluntary resignation, or following the occurrence of any condition of ineligibility provided for by law. With regard to the financial capacity of the *Comune* and the onerous nature of the duties incumbent upon him, he is finally assigned a special office allowance, by a resolution passed by the Council and approved by the provincial administrative board.
The elective nature of the *sindaco* in Italy dates back to the reform of local administration implemented in 1888 (previously, he was appointed by royal decree from among the municipal councillors); it naturally lapsed during the Fascist period, when laws of 4 Feb. 1926, no. 237 and 3 Sept. 1926, no. 1910 replaced the *sindaco* with the *podestà*, appointed by royal decree on the proposal of the Minister of the Interior; however, it was reintroduced after the Liberation by legislative decree of 7 Jan. 1946, no. 1 (subsequently amended by those of 10 Mar. 1946, no. 76 and 15 Mar. 1946, no. 83).
For certain moral questions regarding the conduct of the *sindaco* when required to attend a civil marriage, *v.* INDISSOLUBILITÀ.