The Italian Society for Legal and Political Philosophy was founded in 1935 as the Italian Society for the Philosophy of Law (Società Italiana di Filosofia del Diritto) at the initiative of Prof. Giorgio Del Vecchio, who held the chair in the philosophy of law at the University of Rome. The charter for the society was officially approved by a decree of March 21, 1936, issued by the Italian Ministry of Education, which under subsequently issued decrees conferred the title of president on Prof. Del Vecchio and that vice president on Prof. Francesco Bernardino Cicala, of the University of Florence. These events are reported in the Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto—vol. XVI, no. III (1936): 299–301—which also serves as the society’s official organ.

The first meeting of the society was held on April 25, 1936, in the Hall of the Academic Senate of the University of Rome, with the participation of numerous scholars in the discipline who came in from universities based all over Italy. Under Article 5 of the charter, the president drew up a list of scholars to be invited to serve on the advisory board, which was thus filled by Profs. Felice Battaglia, of the University of Macerata; Benvenuto Donati, of the University of Modena; Eugenio Di Carlo, of the University of Perugina; and Giacomo Perticone, of the University of Ferrara; the office of secretary was conferred on Prof. Guido Gonella, of the University of Pavia, and that of undersecretary on Rinaldo Orecchia (Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto, vol. XVI, no. III [1936]: 439­–41). As the Italian section of the International Association for the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, the society was entrusted with organizing the third session of the conference held in Rome from March 31 to April 4, 1937, which was devoted to a range of related subjects: the aim of law, the common good, justice, and legal security (see G. Gonella, “La III Sessione dell’Istituto Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto e di Sociologia Giuridica,” Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto, vol. XVII, no. III [1937]: 346–74).

The second meeting of the society was held on April 5, 1937, with numerous members in attendance. All the offices were confirmed, and it was decided to issue a prize competition for an annotated bibliography on the philosophy of law in Italy since 1860. A program was also set up to put out a series of monographs on the teaching of legal philosophy at Italian universities (see Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto, vol. XVII, no. III [1937]: 374–75).

Later developments would cause the competition to be called off. But seven of the monographs that had been planned on the teaching of legal philosophy in Italy were published in the journal:

– B. Donati, “L’insegnamento della filosofia del diritto e l’attività didattica di Bertrando Spaventa alla Università di Modena nel 1859–60,” Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto, vol. XVIII, no. VI (1938): 541–571.

– A. Groppali, “L’insegnamento della filosofia del diritto nella Università di Cagliari,” Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto, vol. XVIII, no. VI (1938): 614–21.

– G. Quadri, “L’insegnamento della filosofia del diritto nell’Università di Siena, Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto, vol. XXX, no. IV (1953): 510–24.

– C. Laviosa, “L’insegnamento della filosofia del diritto nell’Università di Pisa,” Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto, vol. XXXI, no. II (1954): 242–72.

– G. Marchello, “L’insegnamento della filosofia del diritto nell’Università di Camerino,” Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto, vol. XXXI, no. III (1954): 385–89.

– P. Vaccari, “L’insegnamento della filosofia del diritto nell’Università di Pavia,” Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto, vol. XXXI, nos. V–VI (1954): 726–33.

– A. Castro, “L’insegnamento della filosofia del diritto nell’Università di Catania,” Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto, vol. XXXVIII, nos. II–IV (1961): 309–40.

On December 29, 1937, the Executive Committee held a meeting, and on that occasion a complaint was brought to the Italian minister of education, calling attention to the “unjustified exclusion of legal philosophy from the foundational and even the elective curriculum offered at schools of political science,” and it was resolved that “philosophy of law should again be made a fundamental course in the national program in political science, considering—as can be appreciated from the history of thought—how important a role is played by legal philosophy and how valuable it is in giving students a proper education, especially in political science.”

In 1938, a second competition was issued for a historical summary of legal philosophy in Italy from antiquity to the present, but like the previous competition, this one, too, was withdrawn (see Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto, vol. XVIII, no. II [1938]: 215–16).

The third meeting of the association was held on April 24, 1938, likewise drawing a large attendance among members. This was followed by a conference devoted to two topics. The first of these was natural law, with talks delivered by Profs. Francesco Aquilani (on Pascal and natural law), Arturo Beccari (on the spiritualistic conception of natural law), and Alessandro Groppali (on the problem of natural law). The second topic was that of the current condition of legal philosophy in Italy: An extensive talk by Prof. Giuseppe Capograssi triggered a lively debate engaging everyone in the audience. On this conference, and especially on the talk given by Prof. Capograssi, see Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto, vol. XVIII, nos. IV–V (1938): pp. 484–86.

World War II put a halt to the activity of the society, which under a decree of December 10, 1940, issued by the Italian Ministry of Education was merged into the Italian Institute for Philosophical Studies, acting as its section on legal philosophy.

In 1948, the society resumed its activity as a freestanding body, but it did retain its affiliation with the Italian Institute for Philosophical Studies, considering the commonality of interests between the two organizations. On February 23, 1949, a meeting was held in Rome that attracted a vast number of specialists. It was decided to postpone the election of officers to the society, while for the current year a unanimous vote was taken to fill a provisional executive committee on which would sit Profs. Giorgio Del Vecchio, Felice Battaglia, Giuseppe Capograssi, Francesco Bernardino Cicala, Benvenuto Donati, Giacomo Perticone, and Rinaldo Orecchia, who accepted responsibility for (i) drawing up a new charter and bylaws to be put to a vote by members, (ii) set down a detailed plan of activity, and (iii) summon a new meeting as soon as possible. It was also decided to reinstate the Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto as the official organ of the society (see Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto, vol. XXV, no. I [1948], p. 96).

In 1950, the draft for a new charter and bylaws was published in the journal, inviting all members of the association to write in with comments or proposals, and on the basis of that input a final text was drawn up in 1952. Under the new charter, a meeting was held in Rome in November of the same year so as to hold elections for the 1952–55 term. The outcome of those elections—as detailed in Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia del Diritto, vol. XXVII, nos. III–IV (1950): 616–20, and vol. XXIX, nos. I–II (1952): 119–22, 514–15)—was as follows:

– President: Prof. Giorgio Del Vecchio

– Vice president: Prof. Widar Cesarini Sforza, of the University of Rome

– Advisory committee: Profs. Felice Battaglia, of the University of Bologna; Norberto Bobbio, of the University of Turin; Giuseppe Capograssi, of the University of Rome; Francesco Bernardino Cicala, of the University of Florence; Antonio Falchi, of the University of Genoa; Alessandro Groppali, of the University of Milan; and Giacomo Perticone, of the University of Pisa

– Secretary: Prof. Rinaldo Orecchia

In subsequent years a few changes were made to the charter and bylaws by resolution of the association’s governing body, and at a meeting held in Padua on October 3, 1969, it was decided to change the name of the organization from Italian Society for the Philosophy of Law to Italian Society for Legal and Political Philosophy.