The Adventures and Misadventures of Participation in Administrative Proceedings in the Light of the Italian Experience
The Adventures and Misadventures of Participation in Administrative Proceedings in the Light of the Italian Experience

Author(s): Roberto Caranta
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Administrative Law
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: administrative proceedings; Italy; Feliciano Benvenuti
Summary/Abstract: Administrative procedures are very many and much varied in Italy. They follow different rules and the risk in studying administrative procedures is to see the trees while missing the forest. The Italian rules on administrative procedures pursues a number of contradictory aims. These have been piling up one upon other in well over one century. The original emphasis on the protection of property and business rights while keeping a strong focus on the overriding powers of the administration left room for a participatory approach which, however, was not without limitations and difficulties, including the fact that, from a law in action perspective, the bureaucracy simply lacked the will and the capacity to really work under those different rules. This chapter will follow this many pronged evolution process, starting with the origin of participation seen as a tool for the defence of freedom and property rights in the second half of the 19th century (§ 2). The dogmatic description of administrative procedures was perfected in the early ‘40s by Aldo M. Sandulli (§ 3). A new generation of scholars under the guide of Feliciano Benvenuti set to change our understanding of administrative procedures, putting the participation at the centre of administrative law; this drive that lead to the l. 7 August 1990, n. 241, the general administrative procedure and right of access law (the GAP Law 1990) (§ 4). The shortcomings of the GAP Law 1990 will be highlighted next, along with further limitations to participation introduced in 2005 and thereafter in order to answer to the needs of increased efficiency brought about by European integration first and by a series of apparently never ending crises later (§ 5). Short conclusions will try to highlight the contradictions in the Italian approach to administrative procedures and participation (§ 6).

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