Italian Constitutional Court (Corte costituzionale italiana), No. 60/2023, 6 April 2023

Municipal elections and maximum number of electoral mandate.

Art. 51, Constitution
Art. 51, par. 2, Testo unico sugli enti locali
Art. 1, Regione Sardegna Law, No. 9/2022
Art. 3, Regione Sardegna Law, No. 9/2022

1. The possibility for mayors of municipalities with a population of no more than three thousand inhabitants to hold up to four consecutive terms of office is contrary to state regulations (Art. 51, paragraph 2, of the Consolidated Law on Local Government) and Art. 51 of the Constitution. In particular, the latter provision, in order to protect the fundamental right of the electorate, requires that all citizens of either sex have equal access to elected office. For this reason, it must be the state legislature, with uniform regulations for the entire national territory (and thus also for all municipalities), to establish, for mayors, the maximum number of consecutive elective terms.

2. In addition, it is recalled that the provision of the maximum number of consecutive elective terms for mayors, introduced as a counterbalance to their direct election, serves to guarantee various rights and principles of constitutional standing. These include, in particular, the effective par condicio among candidates, the freedom of individual voters to vote and the overall genuineness of electoral competition, the physiological turnover of the political class and, ultimately, the very democratic nature of local governments.
(The legislation of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia allowing four consecutive terms of office for mayors of municipalities with a population of up to three thousand inhabitants, and three consecutive terms of office for mayors of municipalities with a population of up to five thousand inhabitants, is declared constitutionally unlawful).