How to cite a law with the ELI
The ELI is the stable identifier of a law: a permanent “address” pointing to a law or to one of its articles, so the citation stays verifiable over time.
1. Structure of the ELI
In Italy an ELI has the form eli:/it/<type>/<year>/<month>/<day>/<number> — e.g. eli:/it/legge/2024/03/02/19. Adding /art/<n> points to the single article.
2. Why use it
Unlike a link to a page, the ELI is persistent and unique: it does not break and identifies exactly the law being cited.
3. How to cite it
Give the human-readable reference (e.g. “Art. 575 of the Italian Criminal Code”) and pair it with the ELI/URN as a stable source; for the EU the analogous CELEX identifier is used.
Open·Parlamento uses the ELL/ELI as the anchor of every answer and in the corpus pages. See also CELEX for European Union acts.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between ELI and CELEX?
ELI identifies national and European laws in a harmonised way; CELEX is the specific identifier of European Union acts and judgments on EUR-Lex.
Other guides
- How an Italian bill becomes law
- Decreto-legge and decreto legislativo: the differences
- What an MCP server is (and how to use it for the law)
- The hierarchy of the sources of Italian law
- What Normattiva is
- What the Gazzetta Ufficiale is
- How the Italian Constitutional Court works
- Glossary — ELI, CELEX, MCP server, legislative OSINT
Informational tool — not legal advice.