Abstract

The text offers a reflection on the relation between the decentralised or articulated nature of State institutions and the distribution of duties concerning the jurisdictional system, the 'machinery' of jurisdiction, through an exploration of the institutional systems of certain countries different from ours, which exploration is done not in view of a specific practical aim but solely for the purpose of gaining a greater awareness of what exists elsewhere. This virtual journey departs from Spain, where a recent important sentence of the Tribunal Constitucional has viewed in the distribution of competencies in relation to judicial power an essential discriminating factor between the unitary State and federal State. The exploration continues in the United Kingdom, to verify whether this discriminating factor holds, then going on to look at recognised federal systems, touching on the United States, Australia, Canada, Switzerland and Germany, without completely disregarding such countries as Austria and Belgium. To conclude, we go back to Italy, still without immediate aims, for an 'academic' discussion of some possible themes.