Abstract

Professor Sabino Cassese's acknowledgement of the importance of historical research in jurisprudence, "History is a necessary partner for the law", is proved by the unsatisfactory reconstruction of the origins of the second subparagraph of article 44 of the Italian Constitution: "The law makes provisions for the mountain areas". The origins of this subparagraph, so far unknown, dates back to the first half of XX century when some politicians, mainly members of the Catholic movement, asked for the State's engagement to pursue the improvement both of the living conditions of the Italian mountains population and of the mountains environmental protection, to avoid landslides and floods. The so-called Southern Question (questione meridionale) inspired the requests. Farming and handcrafts activities, along with the forestry development and the production of hydroelectric power, would have fulfilled the objectives, also to compensate mountain people for the destruction caused by the First and the Second World War.