Italy repeals about 30,000 outdated legal acts — Interia

Italy has repealed about 30,000 legal acts dating back to the period of the monarchy. The large-scale streamlining of legislation, including decrees and orders from the pre-republican period and the fascist era, was carried out by Minister for Reforms and Legislative Simplification Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, Interia reports.

According to the Italian agency ADNKronos, many of these documents had not been applied for decades but formally remained in codes and regulations. Some of them had to be amended before being repealed. Italian media described this work as a kind of legislative archaeology because of the number of unusual historical rules.

Carrier pigeons and a banana monopoly

Rules concerning the use of carrier pigeons became a separate example of outdated regulations. A royal decree that defined, among other things, the principles of owning and training these birds was repealed in 2023. These rules were intended to prevent pigeons from being used for espionage.

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The list of repealed regulations also included a fascist-era decree on establishing the Royal Banana Monopoly Enterprise under the Ministry of Colonies. The institution was intended to control the import and distribution of bananas. In addition, rules on requisitioning animals and vehicles for the needs of the Royal Army and the Royal Navy were repealed.

Snow tax

The minister's team repealed a local tax on snow in the municipality of Cerignola in Apulia. Snow falls there rarely, so it was brought in from nearby mountainous areas. The royal authorization to tax it made it possible to regulate a formal state order for the sale of ice in summer, when refrigerators did not yet exist.

In the city of Lucca, an additional municipal fee for entering into marriage at night has not been in force for several years.