The Shadow of the Law. The Special Tribunal for the Defence of the State between Justice and Politics in the Italian Fascist Period

In this essay I endeavour to understand what kind of connection may be established between political justice in the liberal order and in the Fascist period. More particularly, my argument is that the liberal State is characterized by what I would call the paradox of freedom. In my view, emphasis upon this same paradox enables us to grasp the elements of continuity and discontinuity. In its second stage I will analyse the establishment of the Special Tribunal as an explicit overcoming of liberal political justice. In its third stage my essay is designed to show how Fascist political justice is intrinsically linked to the political nature of the new regime. Finally, I will conclude with some observations regarding the explicitly symbolic level of the Special Tribunal in the context of Fascist political justice. The aim of the present article is not so much to give an account of cases heard by the Special Tribunal but rather to attempt a comprehensive interpretation of the position of the new Tribunal within the strategies and policies of Fascist repression.