Corte dei conti
Summary
The Corte dei conti (Court of Audit) is constitutionally established under Articles 100 and 103 of the Italian Constitution as an independent body with consultative, audit, and jurisdictional functions. It exercises preventive legality review (visto preventivo) over significant government measures and conducts ex-post auditing of the state budget, reporting directly to Parliament. Magistrates of the Corte dei conti belong to a special magistracy (magistratura speciale) and are appointed by competitive examination, serving until mandatory retirement age; the President is appointed by decree of the President of the Republic on the proposal of the Prime Minister. The Court has statutory right of access to all documents and records of audited entities. Annual reports (relazione annuale) on the management of the state budget are submitted to Parliament and published.
Independence Scorecard
| Appointment | Executive appointment |
|---|---|
| Term length | Not specified |
| Removal standard | Cannot be removed before term expires |
| Budget independence | Legislative line item |
| Subpoena power | No |
| Compel testimony | No |
| Records access | Full access |
| Public reports required | Yes |
| Pre-publication review | None — reports published directly |
Statute
- Name
- Regio Decreto 12 luglio 1934, n. 1214 (testo unico); Artt. 100, 103 Cost.
- Citation
- R.D. n. 1214/1934; Cost. artt. 100 c. 2, 103 c. 2
- Full text
- Full text of law →
Jurisdiction scope
All organs of the central state and public bodies receiving state funds; pre-emptive legality review of government acts and post-facto audit of the state budget; also exercises jurisdiction over public accounting liability of civil servants