The Parliament as Administrator

The essay analyses the quantity, quality and limits of the phenomenon Parliament as an administrator whitin the Italian legal system. The article examines the current state of the relevant legislation and identifies the origin of the administrative function of Parliament, and its theoretical underpinnings. The consequences of phenomenon are then examined, starting from its importance with reference to the principle of separation of powers and to the rationale of the (constitutionally oriented) correspondence between the exercise of certain functions and the use of related procedures to adopt of legal acts. The essay also investigates cases examined by the Constitutional Court and suggests the reasons, typical to many Western democracies, in favour of assigning the discretionary and impartial evaluation of single administrative matters to entities other tha the legislator.