A ruling by the Consulta proves Sardinia right and - according to the leaders of the Region - reinforces the concept of autonomy. The Constitutional Court rejected the appeal of the Government which had challenged some rules on urban planning and hunting contained in regional law 17 of 22 November 2021, on "provisions of an institutional-financial nature and on economic and social development". The sentence was filed today.
Satisfaction. "An important and authoritative decision - comments with satisfaction the President of the Region, Christian Solinas - with which the Consulta confirms the goodness of our work and further strengthens the autonomy of the Sardinia Region which with its Assembly has the full right to legislate in matters within its competence without any kind of interference from the State, in respect of reciprocal roles and maximum collaboration between institutions". In the appeal, the Government argued that, in allowing interventions "for the transformation of the territory outside the planning context shared with the State", it would not respect the principle of the hierarchy of the planning instruments of the various territorial levels and therefore would be detrimental to the State's competence in matter of landscape protection.
According to the judges, on the other hand, it must first of all be remembered that the competence of the Sardinian legislator in the field of building and urban planning does not include "only strictly urban planning functions, but also those relating to cultural and environmental heritage". And therefore regional intervention in the context of landscape protection is permitted, according to what is established in the implementing rules of the Special Statute. The Court thus declared the questions of constitutional legitimacy promoted pending the approval of the urban redevelopment plans and the adaptation of the municipal urban plan to the regional landscape plan as unfounded: that is, the municipalities can issue the building permit or the authorization in amnesty, against a specific request and in compliance with the established procedural and economic conditions.
"The possibility now recognized to the Municipalities - the judges explain - of granting permits and authorizations in amnesty, even if they have not yet adopted an urban redevelopment plan, does not have the effect of derogating from the terms for adapting urban plans to the landscape , defined in the cultural heritage and landscape code and in the technical standards for the implementation of the landscape plan". With the contested provisions, it is written in the sentence, «the regional law has modified some delicate aspects of the discipline, making it possible to issue the licenses even in the absence of the implementation plan in question and thus eliminating the relationship of subordination between the plan and building amnesties . This choice, however, does not negatively affect the timing of adaptation of the municipal planning instruments to the PPR, which remain unchanged.
The Council then declared the legitimacy issues raised on the subject of the protection of wetlands inadmissible. "Examination of the merits - underlined the judges - is precluded by the lack of motivation of certain objections, as objected by the defense of the Region", represented by the lawyer Mattia Pani, together with his colleagues Giovanni Parisi and Andrea Secchi, "and by the profiles of contradictions that characterize the illustration of the reasons for the appeal".
Hunting. Finally, the Constitutional Court rejected - on hunting - also the appeal of the rule on rifle magazines: "In weighing up the interest of hunters in equipping themselves with effective hunting tools and the general interest in the protection of wildlife - it is written in the sentence declaring the Government's appeal unfounded - the challenged discipline does not extend its sphere of operation beyond aspects relating to the use of tools useful for the exercise of hunting activity, thus avoiding invading the general competence of the State on the use of firearms".
(Unioneonline)