An example of divergence between the Constitutional Court and the ordinary courts in Italy: the so-called “war of the courts” concerning the interpretation of the law

The issue concerning the relationship between the Constitutional Court and the ordinary courts inevitably entails a series of problems of exceptional importance and complexity. Under Italian constitutional law these problems are closely related to the historical period during which the Constitutional Court was created. They relate to the model of centralised constitutional justice, approved in Italy in the 1948 Constitution, along with the very nature of the Court. The contribution will seek to highlight from a specific viewpoint a situation within the case law which was characterised by an initial deep-seated divergence between the courts in relation to criminal law, known as the war of the courts.