It’s official: the confirmatory referendum on justice reform will be held on 22 and 23 March 2026. The Council of Ministers has in fact approved the official date of the popular consultation, during which Italians will be asked to express their opinion for or against the introduction of the separation of careers between magistrates and public prosecutors.
In any case, this type of referendum, regulated by Article 138 of the Constitution, does not require a quorum: consequently, 50%+1 of those entitled to vote will not need to go to the polls, but the result of the referendum will be valid regardless of how many Italians vote.
Citizens will therefore be able to choose whether to approve (voting YES) or reject (voting NO) the constitutional reform on justice: trying to summarize, the changes mainly concern the establishment of two Superior Councils of the Judiciary (one for judges and one for prosecutors), the drawing of their members by lot and the creation of a disciplinary High Court for ordinary magistrates only.
Because the confirmatory referendum does not have a quorum
The most important element to take into consideration is that, since it is a confirmatory referendum, there will not be a quorum, i.e. a minimum share of voters (50%+1) to ensure that the result of the referendum is effective. This means that, if only 20% of those entitled to vote go to the polls, that 20% will decide for the whole country. This is why it will be important to go and vote, regardless of the choice that each citizen decides to express.
But why does this happen?
Simplifying, in Italy we can mainly distinguish between 3 types of referendum: consultative, repealing and confirmatory. The consultative one, as the word itself explains, simply serves to consult the population on a specific issue and was only used at a national level in 1989, regarding the strengthening of the European institutions. The repeal one, like the one of June 2025, instead allows the direct elimination of a law and can also be announced on a popular initiative after the collection of 500,000 signatures. Precisely for this reason, a quorum is necessary, i.e. that 50%+1 of those entitled to vote express themselves in favor or against the repeal of the law.
The confirmatory referendum, which will be held on 22 and 23 March, is instead a type of popular consultation regulated by article 138 of the Constitution, according to which the reforms of the Constitution, if they are not approved by both Chambers (Chamber of Deputies and Senate of the Republic) with a two-thirds majority, must be submitted to popular approval.
In short, this type of referendum serves to “confirm” a decision already taken by Parliament – which however did not reach the majority necessary to be able to amend the Constitution: since Parliament is already the expression of the popular will, this popular consultation does not require a quorum.
What does it foresee and what will be the question of the referendum on 22 and 23 March
As reported by the Ministry of Justice, the question of the confirmatory referendum will be the following:
Approved the text of the constitutional law concerning “Regulations regarding the jurisdictional system and the establishment of the Disciplinary Court” approved by Parliament and published in the Official Gazette no. 253 of 30 October 2025, with which articles 87 paragraph 10, 102 paragraph 1, 104, 105, 106 paragraph 3, 107 paragraph 1 and 110 paragraph 1 of the Constitution are amended?
Voters, therefore, will have to place an
Previous confirmatory referendums
In the history of the Italian Republic there are only 4 precedents, all quite recent: the first dates back to 7 October 2001, when Italians voted in favor of the reform of Title V of the Constitution, which regulates the division of legislative competences between the State, Regions and local authorities (Municipalities and Provinces).
The second confirmatory referendum was held on 25-26 June 2006: on that occasion, voters rejected the constitutional reform which envisaged, among other things, the reduction of Senators to 232 and deputies to 518 and the end of “perfect bicameralism”.
On 4 December 2016, the third popular consultation of this type was organised: also in this case, the reform – proposed by the then Prime Minister Matteo Renzi – provided for the end of perfect bicameralism and the reduction of the members of the Senate to 95. 59% of voters chose “No”.
To close the most recent, which dates back to 20 September 2020: after several attempts, the Italians voted in favor of cutting the number of parliamentarians – a reform desired by the 5 Star Movement -, with the number of deputies officially increasing from 630 to 400 and that of senators from 315 to 200.
