Court of Audit (Italy)

Although its organisation and powers have changed over time, the Court of Audit dates back to the early years of the Italian state.

It was instituted by Law no.800 of 14 August 1862, in order to monitor the administration of the state, and was inaugurated at Turin on 10 October 1862.

The Court is the heir of institutions which monitored public finances before the Unification of Italy, such as the Chamber of Audit (Camera dei conti) of the Duchy of Savoy and then the kingdom of Sardinia, established in 1351 and replaced in 1859 by the Court of Audit (Corte dei conti) on which the Italian institution of 1862 was closely modelled.

Other precursors include the Chamber of Audit (Camera dei conti) of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, established in 1771; the Regia Camera della Sommaria [it] of the Kingdom of Naples, founded in 1444 and replaced by the Royal Court of Audit (Regia Corte dei Conti) in 1807.

Auditing of accounts is also attested in Apostolic Camera of the Papal States as far back as the thirteenth century.

In 1828 the Papal States instituted the Congregation for the Revision of Accounts and Affairs of Public Administration (Congregazione di revisione dei conti e degli affari di pubblica amministrazione) within the Apostolic Camera (which was subsequently replaced by the Council of State for Finance (Consulta di Stato per le Finanze) from 1850 until 1870), with the role of examining and reviewing the prospective and actual budgets of the state and providing opinions on financial matters.

There are jurisdictional divisions and review divisions, as well as a regional prosector's office, for each of the sixteen jurisdictional territories of audit: Piedmont, Lombardy, Venetia, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Latium, Marche, Umbria, Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria and Valle d'Aosta.

The state prosecutors are independent of and cannot be removed by the magistrates of the ordinary courts; their powers are defined by Art.

The Joint Divisions have the power to define the general criteria for each half-year and co-ordinating guidelines for the investigation of the next state budget.

In the course of reviews, it can modify, suspend, and annul the orders of other organs of state for having insufficient financial cover or for sub-optimal use of public resources, with the force of an executive title.

In the execution of its jurisdictional powers, the Court of Audit does not face the limitations of the ordinary judiciary in administrative matters.

This competence has been recently extended to include organisations whose capital is controlled by the state or by other public entities.

Actions are initiated by a Prosecutor General and decisions are made by the jurisdictional division after a public hearing.

If the magistrate finds in favour of the prosecution, then the judgment must be affirmed by the entire division and the reason is recorded.

Within thirty days of notification, the appeal must be submitted to the secretary of the central office of the Court of Audit, along with a copy of the decision which is being challenged.

According to Article 111 of the Constitution, the other possible recourse is request for repeal of the judgment, which can be made to both the central and regional divisions.