Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Member definition

What does Member mean? In local government practice, a member is an elected councillor of a local authority. They are normally chosen by the local government electors of a ward or local electoral area; casual vacancies are filled by by-election or co-option (including party nomination in Northern Ireland). Legislation in each jurisdiction uses “member” to denote councillors, including the Local Government Act 1972 (England and Wales), the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014, and the Local Government Act 2001 (Ireland). Key legal features and usage: - Participates and votes at meetings of the council and its committees, representing constituents in decision‑making. -...

Italy business law and investment guide: corporate set-up, contracts, employment, tax and incentives, insolvency, real estate, compliance, IP, dispute resolution and 2023–2025 reforms

Published by a LexisNexis Commercial expert

Practice notes

Updated in April 2026

Introduction

Italy is a parliamentary republic with a two‑chamber system. The Prime Minister serves as Head of Government. Parliament comprises the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The President of the Republic designates the Prime Minister, who must obtain Parliament’s confidence. The President’s term spans seven years. Parliamentary general elections are held every five years. Italy follows a civil law tradition. Its legal sources comprise the Constitution, statutes, secondary legislation, EU regulations (directly applicable and not requiring implementation) and EU directives (which must be enacted through national legislation). The nation is organised into 20 regions. The Constitution grants regions legislative powers in specific fields, including public health, education, agriculture and tourism. Italy is a founding Member of the EU.

Business environment

Italy ranks among the world’s largest economies, typically within the top ten by GDP, and is Europe’s second‑largest manufacturing economy. It remains a leading country globally for manufacturing, exports and a goods trade surplus, with industrial activity concentrated in the north...

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Marco Mazzeschi , Avv.

Mazzeschi Srl

Marco Mazzeschi is the founder of Mazzeschi Srl, the leading firm in Italy specializing in business, immigration and citizenship law. The firm has offices in Florence, Milan and Taipei and with a network of 100+ local counsels can assist clients in all Italian cities. The firm assists HNW clients and foreign investors as well as more than 100 of the Fortune 500 companies.Mr. Mazzeschi is admitted to the Bar Associations of Milan (1988) and Taipei (2016), admitted arbitrator with the Chinese Arbitration Association (Taipei, 2016). He is also visiting lecturer at the School of Law of Shandong University of Finance and Economics (China) and was Adjunct Professor in the Chinese Culture University (Taipei, 2018-2022).He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), of the International Bar Association Immigration and Nationality Committe) and of the American Bar Association 8International Law Committee). He speaks frequently at...

Yuu Shibata

Mazzeschi Srl

She holds a Ph.D. in EU Law (University of Bologna). Currently, she works as a senior legal consultant at Mazzeschi SRL and she is the Head of the Japanese Desk and Spanish Desk of the same company. She has developed extensive experience working in the Japanese – Italian market either from a legal point of view to a cross-culture communication point of view.She regularly contributes to various platforms (either academic or business oriented) with articles related to EU law, Italian Immigration, and Italian Company law. ...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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