Raffaele Perla: Magistrate and historian of the law

Raffaele Perla graduated from the University of Napoli at 21 years old in 1879, having studied under De Sanctis, Settembrini, and Spaventa. Perla's contributions to the legal field began early with the publication of a commentary, in Latin, on the De Legibus of Cicero. He also wrote two extensive monographs, 'La legislazione normanna-sveva' and 'Il Regno di Guglielmo I di Sicilia', works that affirmed him as one of the major Italian scholars of the history of the law.

These publications led to him being conferred the chair of Storia del diritto at the University of Napoli 'Federico II'. After starting his career in the free profession, he entered the Italian magistrature as a judge in the Tribunal of Napoli. During this period, he published important volumes including 'La città di Santa Maria Capua Vetere e la sigla S.P.Q.C.' and 'Capua Vetere'. He was later chosen by Giuseppe Zanardelli for the Legislative Office of the Ministry, where he was a primary developer of the Zanardelli Code and the author of the Navigation Code.

In 1891, Perla won the competition for the Consiglio di Stato, where he became the first referring judge of the IV Section and eventually its President. He was elected deputy to the Parliament in 1900 and nominated as a senator in 1909. During his long tenure as President of the Consiglio di Stato from 1916 to 1928, he held various roles, including President of the Commission for the project of law on mandatory health insurance and President of the Commission for the reorganization of local finance.

Perla served as a member of the Commission for the study and proposals for modification of administrative legislation, the commission of inquiry for public education, and the Commission of statistics and legislation at the Ministry of Justice. He was also a judge of the Tribunale supremo di guerra e di marina and of the contenzioso diplomatico. Furthermore, he served as Vice President of the Giunta araldica.

After his death, a street in Lusciano, his family's town of origin, was named in his honor in front of the town hall. A street and a school in Santa Maria Capua Vetere were also named after him, where a large commemoration was held during the inauguration of the new court building, featuring a plaque in his honor. He is cited in the Enciclopedia Britannica, the Rizzoli-Larousse, and the Treccani, and was remembered in 2011 for the 180th anniversary of the Consiglio di Stato.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons