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Speeding up the Pace of Administrative Action.
During the 1980s, France, following a trend set by other Western countries, developed amongst its policies of modernisation a programme for speeding up administrative action. This policy of acceleration, which calls into question a model of administration which is bureaucratic in nature, is being pursued via numerous reforms, ranging from a reduction in the time taken by the administration to respond to requests, to consideration of the means for bringing about changes in the structure of the administration. However, the bureaucratic model is resistant, even to the point of deviating from the objectives of the reforms. Furthermore, other aspects of the policies of modernising the administration require actions which may themselves contribute to a slowing down in the process of change. The protection of the rights of citizens, citizen participation in the running of the administration, the quest for improvement in efficiency ail appear to be imperatives of a higher order which eclipse the requirement for a quickening pace of administrative action.

For an administrative policy. Everywhere Administration is facing a crisis, a fact which may be explained by the fast evolution of societies and the increasing number of demands put on the State. The Administration also evolves but not always coherently and more often than not fails to adjust to the new needs or to maintain its stability.
The control and the organization of this evolution, ie. by meeting in time social requirements while ensuring the necessary continuity, have so far been looked after by administrative reforms. What about other channels ? For instance calling upon and improving the tools now available in terms of forecasting, planning and programming with a view to implementing what could be called an "administrative policy" so as to constantly reconcile the administrative change with social change.

Administrative Justice
Italian administrative justice is undergoing a crisis concerning as well its field of jurisdiction (based upon the distinction between subjective interests and legitimate rights) as its functioning. This phenomenon is particularly clear in view of the average time needed for court cases to come to an end, and the number of cases still to examine. Even more important : the system for protecting citizens has only a limited effectiveness, probably because it is still centered on squashing the decisions of administration. There is a pathological addition of the control of criminal courts which are more and more often the last possible instance. Will a reform be able to correct these flaws resulting from an accumulation of different layers of administrative justice regulations ?