The Public Administration, Lost in the Labyrinth of Criminal Justice

This analysis focuses on the mutual interferences between criminal judgments and administrative discretion, starting from judicial cases, their ratio decidendi and their circulation in case law. Specifically, the analysis considers the cases in which the administrative decision is a precondition for punishment; those in which, on the contrary, the administrative decision legitimizes conduct that would otherwise attract criminal liability; and, finally, those in which the circumstances giving rise to the crime constitute the specific conduct put in place by the civil servant in the exercise of his official duty. The survey reveals inconsistency, instability and segmentation in the guidelines provided by the case law. This suggests that criminal justice ends up being a tool for dispersing the proper sense of the administrative function. This risk is intensified by the capacity of criminal courts to influence the choice of public interests and the quality of administrative discretion, as is often the case. However, the analysis also notes the presence of a different judicial approach: one that is keenly aware of the need to balance criminal policy and administrative action.