With Order no. 32234 of 11 December 2025, the Court of Cassation raised a question of constitutional legitimacy concerning Article 14, paragraph 3.1 of the Consolidated Act on Court Costs (Presidential Decree no. 115 of 30 May 2002), as amended by Article 1, paragraph 812, of Law no. 207 of 30 December 2024. This provision states: “Without prejudice to cases of exemption provided for by law, in civil proceedings a case may not be entered on the court register unless the amount determined pursuant to Article 13, paragraph 1, letter (a), or the lower contribution due by law, has been paid.” The issue concerns, more generally, the constitutional compatibility of access to justice when it is made conditional upon the payment of a tax—an issue on which the Constitutional Court has already had occasion to rule in the past (starting with the landmark decision on solve et repete: Constitutional Court judgment no. 21/1961).
