The Senate of the Republic, or simply the Senate, is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament. The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical functions, but do so separately. Pursuant to the Articles 57, 58, and 59 of the Italian Constitution, the Senate has 200 elective members, of which 196 are elected from Italian constituencies, and 4 from Italian citizens living abroad. Furthermore, there is a small number of senators for life, either appointed or ex officio. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno, itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia established on 8 May 1848. Members of the Senate are styled Senator or The Honourable Senator and they meet at Palazzo Madama, Rome.
Italy has recognised same-sex civil unions since 5 June 2016, providing same-sex couples with almost all of the legal protections enjoyed by opposite-sex married couples. A bill to allow such unions, as well as gender-neutral registered partnerships, was approved by the Senate on 25 February 2016 and the Chamber of Deputies on 11 May and signed into law by the Italian President on 20 May of the same year. The law was published in the official gazette the next day and took effect on 5 June 2016. Before this, several regions had supported a national law on civil unions and some municipalities passed laws providing for civil unions, though the rights conferred by these civil unions varied from place to place.
Ignazio Benito Maria La Russa is an Italian politician who is serving as president of the Senate of the Republic since 13 October 2022. He is the first politician with a neo-fascist background to hold the position of President of the Senate, the second highest-ranking office of the Italian Republic.
Left Ecology Freedom was a democratic socialist political party in Italy whose bulk was formed by former members of the Communist Refoundation Party.
The Five Star Movement is a political party in Italy. Its leader and president is Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy from 2018 until 2021. The M5S was founded on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a political activist and comedian, and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a web strategist. The party is primarily described as populist, of the syncretic kind, due to its members' insistence that it has no place in the left–right political spectrum. The party is a proponent of green politics, progressivism and direct democracy.
Maria Elisabetta Casellati is an Italian lawyer and politician. She was President of the Italian Senate from 2018 to 2022. She was the first woman ever to have held this position. Casellati is a long-time member of the liberal-conservative party Forza Italia and served as Undersecretary of Health and Justice in previous governments. In 2022, she was nominated as candidate for President of Italy by the centre-right coalition.
Gian Marco Centinaio is an Italian politician for Lega, serving as Vice President of the Senate of the Republic. He served as Minister of Agriculture and Tourism in the Conte Cabinet from 1 June 2018 to September 2019.
Carla Federica Nespolo was an Italian politician, President of National Association of Italian Partisans from 2017 until her death.
Anna Rossomando is an Italian politician from the Democratic Party, vice president of the Senate since 2018.
Carla Mazzuca Poggiolini is a professional journalist and Italian politician who served in both chambers of the Italian Parliament. She is the wife of Danilo Poggiolini.
Ornella Bertorotta is an Italian politician for the Five Star Movement. She sat in the Italian Senate in the Legislature XVII of Italy after she was elected in the 2013 Italian general election.
The 2020 Italian by-elections were called to fill seats in the Parliament that became vacant after the 2018 general elections. In 2020, by-elections were held for the Chamber of Deputies the Senate of the Republic.
Paola Taverna is an Italian politician for the Five Star Movement, who has been a member of the Senate of the Republic since the 2013 Italian general election. In March 2018, she was elected Vice-President of the Senate.
Enea Franza was an Italian politician for the Italian Social Movement and lawyer.
Alessandra Maiorino is an Italian politician of the Five Star Movement, who serves as a Senator. She is a member of the Legislature XVIII of Italy.
Ettore Antonio Licheri is an Italian politician and lawyer. He served as the Parliamentary leader of the Five Star Movement in the Italian Senate from 2020 to 2021.
Fulvia Michela Caligiuri is an Italian politician from Forza Italia who was elected to the Italian Senate in 2018.
Danila De Lucia is an Italian politician and journalist. She was a member of the Senate of the Republic for the Five Star Movement between 2018 and 2022.
Gilberto Pichetto Fratin is an Italian politician who is the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security of the Meloni government since 22 October 2022.
Vincenzo Maria Miglietti was an Italian politician and senator of the Kingdom. He was Minister of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs of the Kingdom of Italy in the first Ricasoli government.
