«NELL’INTERESSE DELLA LEGGE». LA CORTE SUPREMA DI GIUSTIZIA DI PALERMO (1819 - 1861)

The Supreme Court of Justice of Palermo, from its establishment through the Organic Law of 1819 up until its transformation into Court of Cassation after the unification of Italy, was an entirely new authority in the legal tradition of Sicily. The Court exclusively dealt with matters of legitimacy and had identical powers to the Supreme Court of Justice of Naples, boasting jurisdiction over the continental area of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. It operated throughout the whole Bourbon Era and eventually won over the initially recalcitrant lawyers and magistrates who, having grown accustomed to centuries of practice within the fragmented framework of Common Law, dreaded a loss of power and prestige in the wake of the promulgation of a Code for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and of the foundation of a Regulatory Court. This dissertation will look at the different evolutionary stages of the Supreme Court throughout the 19th Century, having particular regard to the accounts of those involved in the process. The Supreme Tribunal, top judicial authority of the island, was tasked with ensuring the correct interpretation of the Code, monitoring the activity of lower tribunals and overseeing the conduct of the individual magistrates. Amidst the transition between the old system and the new, codified version of the law, such a power had a strong political significance. This study, which includes an analysis of the case-law relating to the supreme authority on legitimacy (with specific reference to the institution of emphyteusis), aims to fill a historiographic “void” and to shed light on the complexity of this transition – as well as the similarities and differences between the two systems – by identifying and voicing the opinions of those magistrates and lawyers who, throughout the numerous, bloody events that occurred within the Kingdom, played major roles at some crucial times in the history of Sicily. The structure, functioning and activities of the Court are the main fields of study of this essay, and their analysis entwines with that of the judicial, political, social and economic repercussions of the codification process on Sicily.