UNA ORDINANZA INTERLOCUTORIA IN MATERIA DI SUICIDIO ASSISTITO. CONSIDERAZIONI PROCESSUALI A PRIMA LETTURA

In its decision on assisted suicide (order no. 207 of 2018, on the case of Marco Cappato), for the first time the Italian Constitutional Court gives the grounds for a declaration of (partial) invalidity, but does not adopt it, and delays the final judgment, allowing the legislator some time to correct the relevant law. The essay is a first and tentative procedural commentary of this new technique of constitutional adjudication and its reasons: arguments of comparative law; the Court’s power to delay judgments; political discretion and its limits. Ultimately, only future developments will reveal how judicial modesty and activism will mix in this highly troubled matter.