The importance of the European Social Charter in the Italian legal System: in pursuit of a stronger protection of social rights in a normative and internationally integrated system

After a brief review of the original choices made by Framers in the formulation of Articles 10 and 11 of the Italian Constitution of 1948, and in consideration of past practices relating to the adaptation of domestic law to the international regulations, particular emphasis is given to the hermeneutic profile of the amended first paragraph of Article 117 of the Constitution, which, viewed in the light of the recent constitutional jurisprudence, could lead to greater interest in more relevance and impact of the European Social Charter into Italian system. It also emerges the role of the enforcement order, considered in diachronic dimension resulting from the analysis of the case law of the Court of Cassation and of the doctrine. This role seems to have more potential if we take into account the possible contributions of the ordinary courts and the Constitutional Court in the interpretation of the norms. The second part of the essay is devoted to the analysis of the Italian case law focused on the Social Charter: firstly, there are considered some landmark judgments of the ordinary courts, and secondly, the attention is focused on certain judgments of the Court of Cassation and Constitutional Court. Finally, some considerations are carried out in order to promote a greater commitment of national courts to give legal significance to the European Social Charter and the decisions of the European Committee of Social Rights.