Administrative judges, appointments and jurisdiction

By Lorenzo Marilotti

The non-istitutional appointments of administrative judges to role in the Executive branch, and specifically roles that collaborate directly with political authorities, are so frequent that they seem to constitute a sort of third non-institutional function of the Italian administrative judiciary. These appointments are useful because they provide the civil service with extraordinary expertise. However, such appointments could also interfere with the judicial function. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the system of protections established administrative law and the law on administrative proceedings to avoid interference between the judicial function and non-institutional appointments. This analysis will enable evaluation of whether grey areas, devoid of protection, exist, and that should be eliminated.