Thirty Years with the Administrative Procedure Act: A View from Italy
Thirty Years with the Administrative Procedure Act: A View from Italy

Author(s): Giacinto della Cananea, Angela Ferrari Zumbini
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Administrative Law
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: administrative procedure act; Italy; legalism; pragmatism
Summary/Abstract: Two years ago there was the 30th anniversary of the general legislation governing administrative procedure (Act of Parliament, 7 August 1990, n. 241). The question that arises is whether, as we suggest in the title of this Chapter, the last thirty years can be viewed in terms of discontinuity with the past. The object of this Chapter is not to provide an overview of that topic. Its aim is, rather, to focus more closely on some issues of more general interest from a comparative perspective. The argument is structured as follows. Section 2 briefly illustrates the background. Section 3 discusses the legal status of administrative procedure legislation. This is followed by an analysis of the main functional and structural features of the general law governing administrative procedure. Sections 5 and 6 discuss the interplay between legalism and pragmatism from a twofold point of view; that is, legislation and its judicial interpretation. The final Section is dedicated to some concluding remarks. Among others, it argues that the Italian case is interesting because it shows that the adoption of an APA, laying down general principles rather than a detailed regulation of the structure which every administrative procedure should have, does not necessarily have a negative impact on judicial creativity. Quite the contrary, administrative courts have continued to refine general principles. They also interpreted and adapted the provisions of the APA to the felt necessities.

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