Legittimazione dell’Autorità quale giudice a quo di fronte alla Corte costituzionale e alla Corte di Giustizia Europea

If the Italian Competition Authority can raise constitutional issues before the Constitutional Court is nowadays controversial. In order to answer this question it is necessary to evaluate the peculiarities that outlined the role and the powers of the Italian Competition Authority, so the solution to the enigma is strictly connected to the nature of the Authority (administrative authority, quasi-judicial body or constitutional body?). Recently the matter has gained a renewed interest, since the ICA raised an interlocutory procedure – in the role of referring court – before the Constitutional Court for the review of the constitutionality of national law. Firstly, the paper analyzes constitutional case-law concerning the subjective and objective requirements that defined the concept of referring court (better known as giudice a quo). Secondly, it compares the results of the first part to the characteristic of the ICA in order to evaluate if the latter owns the requirements set forth by the Constitutional Court. In order to provide complete information on the subject, the third part of the paper focuses on the Court of Justice case-law, since the European Court had the opportunity to rule on the legitimacy of competition authorities as referring court. Finally, it exposes some reflections regarding the recent case which has led the ICA to raise constitutional issue before the Court.