Similarities and Differences of the American and Italian Judicial System Based from research, the Judicial System

in America and Italy in general has its similarities and differences. For instance, the case of Amanda Knox who was found guilty of murder by an Italian criminal court jury in 2009 indicated that; the Italian legal system is inquisitorial - which means it's designed to uncover facts while the American legal system is adversarial - which means it's designed to pit adversaries against each other for the purpose of producing a winner. However, some of these similarities and differences can be found in their constitutions. As such, in America the judicial power is vested in one Supreme Court and in some inferior courts as the congress may from time to time establish. As granted by its Constitution, America has two Court Systems. The Federal Court System which deals with legal issues implicitly granted to it by the constitution and the State Court System that deals with their respective state constitutions and the legal issues that the U.S. Constitution did not give to the federal government or explicitly deny to the states. Meanwhile in Italy, the judicial power is vested in the Constitutional Court, Ordinary Court and Special Courts. The Constitutional Court hears issues to the constitutionality of legislation; disputes over the division of powers; procedures against the President of the Republic under the Constitution on the initiative of Parliament. The Ordinary Courts on the other hand, are administered by judges who are competent for general civil and criminal matters, with the exclusion solely of the matters that are reserved for the jurisdiction of special judges. It is composed of Court of cassation, Courts of Second Instance and the Courts of First Instance. While the administrative, auditing, military and fiscal jurisdictions lies with the Special Court. The jury system is one aspect also wherein Italy and America has similarities and differences. Amendments to the American Constitution provides that trial of all crimes, except in cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed. There are two types of jury systems in the United States, the grand jury and the petit jury. The grand jury consists of 23 citizens of which 16 must be present to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Grand jurors analyze the evidence presented by a government attorney and then decide, based on this evidence, whether to indict (charge) an individual with a crime. Twelve or more grand jurors must vote in favor of the indictment before it may be returned. A petit jury is a body of six to 12 citizens, and alternate jurors that hears a criminal or civil case and decides the facts of the case. Unless otherwise noted, the term jury refers to a petit jury. However, in Italy the Corte d'Assise represent the Jury system of America. It is an Italian court composed of two professional, stipendiary judges and six lay judges who are selected from the people. Decisions are made by giudici togati and giudici popolari together at a special meeting held behind closed doors, named Council Chamber (Camera di Consiglio), and the Corte d'Assise is required to publish written explanations of its decisions

Sources:

Constitution of the United States from http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CDOC-110hdoc50/pdf/CDOC110hdoc50.pdf Why Two Court System from http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/get-informed/federal-courtbasics/why-two-courts-systems.aspx Comparing State & Federal Courts from http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/get-informed/federalcourt-basics/comparing-state-federal-courts.aspx The Italian Judicial System from http://www.unidroit.info/mm/TheItalianJudicialSystem.pdf Murphy: `Foxy Knoxy:' Innocent coed or manipulative murderer? From http://www.milforddailynews.com/opinion/x327822063/Murphy-Foxy-Knoxy-Innocent-coed-or-manipulativemurderer?zc_p=1 The Constitution of The Italian Republic from http://legislationline.org/download/action/download/id/1613/file/b4371e43dc8cf675b67904284951.htm/preview Jury Service in Federal Courts from http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/get-informed/federal-courtbasics/jury-service-federal-courts.aspx

Briefly discuss how the countermajoritarian constitutional features of Uruguay, Colombia, Chile, Spain and South Africa contributed to their democratic survival. According to the article of Countermajoritarian Institutions and Constitutional Stability published on April 2012, it was observed that countermajoritarian constitutional features has contributed to the democratization and domestic survival of certain authoritarian countries such as Uruguay, Colombia, Chile, Spain and South Africa. These Countermajoritarian Constitutional features aim to protect the rights and interests of minorities from infringement by a majority. It can be classified along two dimensions: the form they take (whether they create structures or procedures), and their scope (whether they protect diffuse interests or the interests of a targeted group within the population. Illustrations of these constitutional features can be seen in Uruguay, Colombia, Chile, Spain and South Africa. One of countermajoritarian constitutional features in Uruguay that contributed to its democratic survival is the established power sharing between the countrys two major parties by means of a 9 person collegial executive and other power sharing arrangements through its electoral rules and administrative posts in its 1919 Constitution. Meanwhile in Colombia, their countermajoritarian constitutional feature is depicted through the National Front power-sharing pact which lasted from 1958-74. This agreement was incorporated into the Constitution by means of a 1957 plebiscite. It stipulated that the countrys two major parties would alternate in the presidency; it also divided all elected and administrative positions evenly between them. However, the electoral rules designed to over represent supporters of Pinochet Regime and reserve policy domains is Chiles countermajoritarian constitutional feature that contributed to its survival. In Spain and South Africa were countermajoritarian constitutional features were characterized by constitutions and pacts that restricted the ability of majorities to implement their preferred policies. Spain in its 1978 Constitution guaranteed the special status of the Catholic Church, established a quasi-federal system, and included an electoral system with a rural bias favoring groups that supported the previous authoritarian regime. The proportional power sharing in the Cabinet for any party winning at least twenty seats in the legislature and a federal system and the requirement of the South African constitution of a two-thirds majority in both houses of the legislature to amend the constitution are also examples of the countermajoritarian constitutional features of South Africa 1996 Constitution. Source: Countermajoritarian Institutions and Constitutional Stability by Susan Alberts, Chris Warshaw, and Barry R. Weingast; April 2012 from http://www.law.yale.edu/documents/pdf/Intellectual_Life/LTW-Weingast.pdf

Five (5) Key Characteristics of Chinas Living Constitution The 1982 Constitution of the Peoples Republic of China has five sections which are the preamble, general principles, fundamental rights and duties of citizens, structure of the state, the national flag and the emblems of the state. Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China on October 1st 1949, four constitutions have been adopted and amended in 1954, 1975, 1978 and 1982. The fourth constitution, which is the existing constitution, was adopted on the fifth Plenary Session on the Fifth National People's Congress on December 4th 1982. This constitution has followed and developed the basic principles set in the 1954 constitution. It narrates the experience of the development of Chinese socialism and summarizes the international history for socialist development. This is a basic law: to serve and modernize Chinese socialism. It clearly stipulates the political system, economic system, the rights and obligations of citizens, setting up of state departments and their duties, and the basic tasks for future national development. The fundamental features for this constitution include: setting the fundamental system and tasks, establishing the Four Basic Principles, and laying the basic rationales for reform. The constitution also stipulates that all activities undertaken by its citizens and organizations shall be subject to the constitution. Any organization or individual cannot surpass the constitution and law. Source: The 1982 Constitution 08/05/content_20813.htm of the Peoples Republic of China from http://english.gov.cn/2005-

About China / Political System from http://english.cri.cn/1702/2004-11-1/116@159453.htm Peerenboom, Randall, The Social Foundations of China's Living Constitution (January 26, 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1542463 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1542463