1 LAW No. 157 of 3 June 1999, New Norms for the Reimbursement Of
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Copyrighted translation. Please cite: www.partylaw.leidenuniv.nl Source: http://www.normattiva.it/base/ricercaSemplice (Accessed: October 2011) LAW no. 157 of 3 June 1999, New Norms for the Reimbursement of Expenses for Electoral Consultations and Abrogation of the Provisions Regarding the Voluntary Contribution to Political Movements and Parties. - - - In force starting with: 29-10-2011 - - - The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic have approved; THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC Promulgates the following law: Art. 1 Reimbursement of electoral expenses of political movements and parties 1. Political movements and parties are entitled to the reimbursement of the expenses incurred for elections campaign for the Senate of the Republic and the Chamber of Deputies, for the European Parliament and regional councils. (3) 1-bis. Specific provisions are included in paragraph 5-bis on the reimbursement for political movements or parties in connection with expenses incurred in the elections campaign for the foreign circumscription, provided in article 48 of the Constitution, for the election of the Parliament. 2. The provision of this reimbursement is ordered, according to the norms of this law, by decrees of the President of the Chamber of Deputies, from the internal budget of the Chamber of Deputies, in connection with the elections for the Chamber of Deputies, the European Parliament and the regional councils, as well as the referendum promoting committees, in the cases of paragraph 4. By decree of the Chairman of the Senate of the Republic, reimbursement is provided from the internal budget of the Senate of the Republic for elections for the Senate of the Republic. Political movements or parties that intend to use such reimbursements shall request them, under the penalty of losing the right, from the Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies or Chairman of the Senate of the Republic, according to their respective competence, within ten days of the final date for the submission of the lists for the elections of the bodies mentioned at paragraph 1. (2) (4) (8) (9) (11) 1 3. The reimbursement mentioned in paragraph 1 is provided by distributing among the entitled political movements and parties the various funds related to electoral expenses for the election of the bodies mentioned in paragraph 1. 4. If one or several referendums are requested under article 75 of the Constitution and is declared allowable by the Constitutional Court, promoting committees are given reimbursement equal to the amount resulting by multiplying one euro by each valid signature up to the minimum amount required for the request to be valid and up to a total maximum limit of 2.582.285 per annum, provided that the referendum has reached the voting participation quorum for its validity. A similar reimbursement shall be given, also with the limit of 5 billion liras of this paragraph, for the referendum requests under article 138 of the Constitution. 5. The amount of each of the four funds related to the bodies mentioned at paragraph 1 is equal, for each year of legislature of these bodies, to the amount resulting by multiplying the amount of 1.00 euro by the number of citizens of the Republic recorded in the electoral lists for the Chamber of Deputies elections. For the election of the Italian representatives in the European Parliament on 13 June 1999, the amount mentioned in this paragraph is reduced to L. 3,400. (10) ((12)) 5-bis. For the reimbursement under paragraph 1-bis, in connection with expenses incurred for elections in the foreign circumscription, the funds under paragraph 5, related to the Senate of the Republic and the Chamber of Deputies, respectively, shall be increased by 1.5% of their amount. Each of such additional amounts mentioned above shall be divided between the sections of the foreign circumscription proportionate to its population. The share of each section is divided between candidate lists proportionately to the votes obtained in such section. Lists that have obtained at least one elected candidate in that section or have accumulated at least 4 per cent of the validly expressed votes in that section may participate in this distribution. The provisions of article 15 paragraph 13 of Law 515 of 10 December 1993 shall apply. 6. The reimbursements of paragraphs 1 and 1-bis are provided on an annual basis, by the 31st of July of each year. Reimbursements under paragraph 4 are provided in a single installment by the 31st of July of the year during which the referendum occurs. ((In case of anticipated elections for the Senate of the Republic or the Chamber of Deputies the payment of the annual reimbursements shall be interrupted. In such case, the political movements or parties shall be entitled exclusively to reimbursement for a number of years equal to the legislature of such bodies.)) PERIOD REMOVED BY D.L. 273 OF 30 DECEMBER 2005, CONVERTED WITH AMENDMENTS BY LAW 51 OF 23 FEBRUARY 2006. The payment of the annual reimbursement under this paragraph shall also be made if a fraction of a year has passed. The amounts allocated or to be allocated under this article and any other present or future amount owed to political parties or movements can be subject to securitization and can in any case be assigned to third parties. (10) 7. For the first elections for the European Parliament after the effective date of this law and for the regional councils in years 2 1999 and 2000, as well as for the referendums scheduled for the year 2000, reimbursements shall be paid as a lump sum. 8. In case of failure to comply with the obligations under article 8 of law no. 2 of 2 January 1997, or in case of improper preparation of the report prepared according to the same article 8 of Law 2 of 1997, the Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies and the Chairman of the Senate of the Republic, for funds under their respective authority, suspend the provision of the reimbursement until compliance is achieved. 9. At article 10, paragraph 1 of law no. 515 of 10 December 1993, the words: "liras 200" shall be replaced by the following: "liras 800". In the same paragraph, the words: "of the inhabitants" shall be replaced by: "of the citizens of the Republic registered in the electoral lists". 10. Upon the first application and in connection with the electoral expenses for elections for the European Parliament of 13 June 1999, the period under paragraph 2 shall start upon the date of entry into force of this law. (2) (6) ------------- UPDATE (2) Law no. 156 of 26 July 2002 stipulated (with article 1, paragraph 1) that "The end of the last period under article 1, paragraph 2, of law no. 157 of 3 June 1999, for the submission of the application for the reimbursement of expenses for electoral consultations in 2001 for the Chamber of Deputies and the Sicilian Regional Assembly is delayed to thirty days after the entry into force of this law". It also stipulated (with article 2, paragraph 4) that "The provisions in this law shall apply starting from the reimbursement of electoral expenses for the Senate of the Republic and the Chamber of Deputies to be granted by 31 July 2002". ------------- UPDATE (3) Law no. 298 of 29 November 2004 stipulated (with article 1, paragraph 1) that "Following the entry into force of article 4 of Constitutional Law no. 2 of 31 January 2001, the reimbursement under article 1, paragraph 1 of law no. 157 of 3 June 1999, and article 6, paragraph 2, second part, of law no. 43 of 23 February 1995, in connection with electoral expenses incurred by political movements or parties for the campaign for regional councils shall be construed as referring, for the region of Trentino-Alto Adige, to the elections for the councils of the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano". It also stipulated (with article 1, paragraph 3) that "The provisions under paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply starting with the elections for the councils of the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano held on 26 October 2003". ------------- UPDATE (4) D.L. no. 115 of 30 June 2005, converted and amended by Law no. 168 of 17 August 2005, stipulated (with article 14-undecies, paragraph 1) that "The period of article 1, paragraph 2, third part of Law no. 157 of 3 June 1999, for the submission of the application for reimbursement for electoral consultations in connection with the ordinary Regional Councils of 3-4 and 17-18 April 2005 shall be delayed until 30 September 2005". ------------- 3 UPDATE (6) D.L. no. 223 of 4 July 2006, converted and amended by Law no. 248 of 4 August 2006, stipulated (with article 39-bis, paragraph 4) that "The provisions of this article shall apply starting with the reimbursements for the electoral expenses incurred for the Senate of the Republic and the Chamber of Deputies in the elections of April 2006". ------------- UPDATE (8) D.L. no. 248 of 31 December 2007, converted and amended by Law no. 31 of 28 February 2008, stipulated (with article 51-bis, paragraph 1) that "The period under article 1, paragraph 2, third part, of law no. 157 of 3 June 1999, for the submission of the application for the reimbursement of electoral expenses for the electoral consultations of 9 and 10 April 2006 for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic is delayed thirty days after the date of entry into force of the law converting this decree". ------------- UPDATE (9) D.L. no. 194 of 30 December 2009, converted and amended by Law no. 25 of 26 February 2010, stipulated (with article 3, paragraph 8) that "The period under article 1, paragraph 2, third part, of Law no.