Abstract

In its judgment no. 15 of 2021, the Italian Constitutional Court ruled on the criteria of legal succession with regard to the «Maso chiuso», noting that the age of the coheirs is not decisive and valuing the actual contribution to the care of the Maso itself. In the light of the evolution of the constitutional case law regarding the Maso chiuso and considering the relevance of «historical rights» in the contemporary socio-economic context, the present note tries to examine the role of the conservation purpose of the Maso in the Court’s reasoning, assessing the systemic implications of the judgement, in particular with respect to the judicial review on the «social function» of ownership.