Abstract

Ordinance 207/2018 of the Italian Constitutional Court raises delicate substantive and procedural questions. While its content is formally close to the one of an interlocutory ordinance, it appears novel from a structural point of view, and especially when considering its concrete effects. Three interpretive possibilities seem open: the ordinance can be seen as unusual judicial conduct; as the application of a judicial rule; or even as experimentation of a new judicial technique. The article examines the meaning to be attributed to the referral to a fixed date included in the ordinance, and it emphasizes its connection with the contingent (and compelling) substantive reasons that brought the Court to adopt it. The article also reflects on the different possible interpretative outcomes, some of which appear quite paradoxical, that may derive from treating the referral as a generalizable, and replicable precedent.