The reform of the Court of Auditors and the cuts to senior posts that are causing a stir amongst the judiciary

A 22 per cent reduction in the number of senior management posts within the Court of Auditors (from 104 to 81). This is one of the most significant provisions contained in the legislative decree, approved today by the Council of Ministers, which implements the reform of the Court of Auditors that came into force in January. In fact, with 636 audit magistrates, there are currently as many as 104 senior or middle-ranking officials: in effect, there is one president for every five magistrates. This figure is disproportionate compared with other judicial bodies (in the administrative judiciary, the ratio is one to ten). The resistance from the audit magistrates’ union, which is threatening to go on strike in the autumn, is also linked to this change. 

The reform of financial liability (the so-called ‘Foti reform’) came into force last January, but left it to the government to define the reorganisation and restructuring of the functions of the Court of Auditors. The measure approved by the government is therefore very substantial: it comprises no fewer than 71 articles, divided into four sections: organisation, career progression, disciplinary proceedings and transitional provisions. Following approval by the Council of Ministers, the text will be forwarded to Parliament for consideration by the parliamentary committees, and also to the State-Regions Conference, with the aim of concluding the process within the timeframe set out in the enabling legislation (21 January 2027).

The reorganisation of the Court of Auditors, like the reform of financial accountability, aims to ensure that the system of financial justice no longer acts as a disincentive, but rather as an incentive for public administrators to take action. The measure approved today seeks to achieve this objective, first and foremost by standardising the exercise of prosecutorial functions as much as possible across the country, thereby giving public administrators the assurance that their actions will be assessed consistently. This is reflected in the strengthening of the role of the Attorney General of the Court of Auditors, who “coordinates the activities of the regional prosecutors through his or her policy directives”; after consulting the latter, he or she “identifies the priority criteria, to be adopted and applied uniformly, for the handling of preliminary investigations”, and, in the exercise of his or her coordinating functions, may also “access the files of preliminary investigations conducted by the regional public prosecutors’ offices, subject to prior notification to the regional public prosecutor and the magistrate in charge of the preliminary investigation file”, including through access to the computerised system (a practice which, albeit in a limited form, already exists).

Another new development concerns the rotation of magistrates between roles: “Magistrates,” the legislative decree states, “shall, throughout their careers, perform all supervisory, advisory, consultative and judicial functions, in accordance with a system of rotational assignments.” At the same time, a ban is introduced on magistrates of the Court of Auditors moving from prosecutorial roles to adjudicative roles: in other words, the measure provides for the separation of careers – a proposal rejected by Italians for the ordinary judiciary in the March referendum.

As mentioned, the new staffing structure for the Court of Auditors has now been finalised, with a reduction in the number of senior and sub-senior positions: under the new structure, the number of section presidents or higher-ranking posts falls from 104 to 81, representing a 22 per cent reduction compared with the current situation, which is entirely anomalous when compared with other judicial bodies. This is one of the most significant changes introduced by the decree and helps to explain the concern expressed by the Association of Magistrates of the Court of Auditors (effectively the ANM for audit magistrates), which – backed by the PD – has once again spoken of a reform that “risks undermining the independence and autonomy of the audit judiciary”.

Last February, in fact, the Presiding Council of the Court of Auditors approved the promotion of ten magistrates to the post of section president (despite the fact that a call for applications had been issued to fill nine posts). Since then, the government has put these ten promotions on hold, considering the decision of the Presiding Council of the Court of Auditors to be inappropriate: the Foti reform had, in fact, already come into force and authorised the executive to adopt implementing decrees for the reorganisation of the accounting judiciary, guided by the principle of limiting the number of senior and middle-ranking officials.

In short, it is as though, ahead of the announced crackdown, the leadership of the Court of Auditors had rushed to push through a final wave of promotions. An attempt blocked by Palazzo Chigi. Behind the reform of the Court of Auditors lies an underground power struggle, albeit one of great significance.