A/HRC/4/19/Add.4 page 7 B. The legal system 5. The 1948 Constitution proclaims that the Italian legal system shall conform to the generally recognized principles of international law (art. 10.1). Italy is party to six of the seven major international human rights instruments3 and their optional protocols, the exception being the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. In addition, Italy is party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Crime (the Palermo Protocol). 6. The Italian Constitution recognizes the principle of equality before the law and the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sex, race, language, religion, political opinions and personal or social conditions for all, citizens and non-citizens (arts. 2 and 3), as confirmed by various rulings of the Constitutional Court.4 It recognizes the right to freedom of religion (arts. 19 and 8), the right to asylum, and determines that the legal status of foreigners shall be regulated by law in conformity with international law and treaties (arts. 10.4 and 10.2). C. The political and administrative structure 7. Italy is a parliamentary democracy headed by a President of the Republic elected by the representatives in Parliament. The Parliament, composed of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, constitutes the legislative branch; the executive branch, responsible for the general policies of the Government, is the Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister, who is usually the leader of the majority party or coalition of political factions, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Parliament; the judiciary is a three-level system of courts with a Supreme Court as the highest court of appeal and a Constitutional Court with the authority to decide on the constitutionality of laws and conflicts of competence. Italy is administratively divided into 15 regions and 5 autonomous regions, provinces and municipalities with their own statutes, powers and functions. D. Methodology 8. The Special Rapporteur based his investigation on three main questions which he addressed to all his interlocutors: 1. Is there racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in Italy? 2. If yes, what are their manifestations? 3. What are the policies adopted by the Government to fight against these phenomena? In the following two sections, the 3 The International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 4 See decisions 120 of 15 November 1967 and 104 of 19 June 1969 and order 215 of 1 July 1983.