A criminal lawyer at the helm of the Constitutional Court: Francesco Viganò elected as the new president

A criminal law specialist at the helm of the Constitutional Court. The Council of Judges of the Constitutional Court has elected Francesco Viganò as its next president: he will take up the post on 14 November, upon the expiry of Giovanni Amoroso’s term of office. Viganò, aged 60, who had been a lecturer in criminal law at Bocconi University since 2016 until he was appointed to the Constitutional Court by the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, in 2018, will remain in office until 8 March 2027, when his term as a constitutional judge also expires.

Viganò is regarded as the Court’s ‘mastermind’ in criminal matters; he has been entrusted with some of the most sensitive decisions – including those with political implications – of recent years. One such case, in particular, was the ruling just over a year ago which upheld the constitutional legitimacy of the highly contested removal of the offence of abuse of office from our criminal code. A similar conclusion regarding constitutionality was also reached in another judgement less than a year ago concerning the reform of the offence of influence-peddling. But Viganò has also acted as rapporteur in other rulings on ‘sensitive’ matters, such as environmental wiretaps involving members of parliament or the imposition of penalties for corruption.

There is no doubt as to the main issue that the Constitutional Court, presided over by Viganò, is likely to be called upon to address: the assessment of the legitimacy of the new electoral law. On Monday, 25 appeals were lodged with as many courts across the country, and the court in Trento has already scheduled a hearing for 16 December. The Constitutional Court could therefore be called upon to deal with the case in the first few weeks of the year, not least to avoid holding elections – perhaps brought forward to as early as spring – under rules that might shortly be deemed unlawful, thereby casting a shadow over the future Parliament.

To go into more detail regarding his background, Viganò was born in Milan on 1 March 1966 and graduated with a degree in law in 1989 from the University of Milan. From 1991 to 1993, he undertook a research fellowship at the University of Munich. In 1998, he was awarded a PhD by the University of Pavia.

He began his academic career at the University of Brescia, where he was a research fellow from 1995 to 2001 and an associate professor from 2001 to 2004, teaching Italian and comparative criminal law. From 2004, he was an extraordinary professor and subsequently a full professor of criminal law at the University of Milan. In November 2016, he was appointed to Bocconi University, where he taught Italian and transnational criminal law until his appointment as a constitutional judge.