One State, three powers
The Sammarinese order rests on an ancient principle: no person may concentrate more than one government function. At the top sit in pairs the Captains Regent, elected every six months by parliament and invested with the functions of Head of State. Around this axis revolve legislative power, entrusted to the Great and General Council, executive power, exercised by the State Congress, and judicial power, divided between the Tribunale Unico, the Judicial Council and the Commission for judicial affairs.
Alongside the traditional powers, the system preserves and values ancient instruments of direct democracy: the Istanza d'Arengo, a legacy of the medieval assembly of family heads, and the referendum in three forms (abrogative, propositive and confirmative). The territory, covering 61.19 km², is divided into nine Castelli each administered by their own Giunta.
| Body | Function | Composition | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Captains Regent | Collegial Head of State | 2 Regents from the Council | 6 months |
| Great and General Council | Legislative power | 60 elected Councillors | 5 years |
| State Congress | Executive power | Up to 10 Secretaries of State | Legislature |
| Council of the XII | Administrative jurisdiction and third instance | 12 councillors | Legislature |
| Judicial Organs | Judicial power | Tribunale Unico, Collegio Garante, Judicial Council | Variable |
| Giunte di Castello | Local administration in the 9 Castelli | 15 or 21 members | 4 years |
The Captains Regent
The Regency is a collegial body. Two Sammarinese citizens, elected from among the members of the Great and General Council, jointly assume the functions of Head of State for a six-month mandate that runs from 1 April or 1 October. Each investiture, preceded by the Oath Ceremony in the Public Palace, coincides with a national holiday. At the end of the mandate the Regency is subjected to the Sindacato, a constitutional and administrative review procedure provided for by the Statutes.
The Regency presides over the Great and General Council, the State Congress and the Council of the XII, and may issue urgent decrees valid for three months, to be ratified within the same term under penalty of lapsing.
«Relinquo vos liberos ab utroque homine.»
The Great and General Council
Single-chamber parliament, it inherits directly the ancient Arengo. Sixty Councillors are elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year legislature. Within the assembly five Permanent Council Commissions established in 1995 operate, each composed of fifteen members and competent by subject matter.
The State Congress
Since 1945 the State Congress holds executive, political and administrative power. It includes up to ten Secretaries of State, equivalent to Italian Ministers, each in charge of one or more sectors. The Secretariat for Foreign Affairs traditionally has a leading role and, by convention, is entrusted to the political leader of the majority coalition.
Tribunale Unico and Collegio Garante
Judicial power is divided between ordinary and administrative jurisdiction. The Tribunale Unico is split into two sections and entrusted to non-Sammarinese magistrates appointed by the Great and General Council; the Conciliating Judges may instead be citizens of the Republic. The Collegio Garante, established by law no. 36 of 26 February 2002, took over the functions of the ancient Council of the XII as the supreme judicial body.
Direct democracy and territory
The Sammarinese order keeps tools of participation of rare intensity. The Istanza d'Arengo is held every six months: at noon on the first Sunday after the appointment of the Regency, citizens, individually or in groups, submit to the Regency questions of public interest. When the Council accepts the request, the State Congress is bound to translate it into law.
The referendum exists in abrogative, propositive and confirmative form: to start the procedure the promoting committee deposits the question signed by sixty voters; admissibility is judged by the Collegio Garante. In parallel, local elections renew every four years the nine Giunte di Castello, which administer the territory and appoint the Capitano di Castello.