Abstract

The theme of emergency 'management' is becoming ever increasingly more topical and omnipresent, introducing problems of immense importance, especially where 'exceptional' solutions are held out that depart from the 'regular' principles on which a system based. The theme is bound to become particularly delicate when emergencies such as those tied to the phenomenon of international terrorism are involved, in view of the fact that the exceptional solutions tend to depart from the fundamental principles on which democracy itself rests. After reflecting on the concepts of emergency and exception and providing a reconstruction of the phenomenon of international terrorism, the author goes on to examine some 'exceptional' solutions adopted in recent years in the fight against terrorism, expressing the hope that the watchdog role played by the Constitutional Court will become ever increasingly more incisive as regards even such issues.