Government Ethics: The Strange Italian 'Conlict of Interests'

Bernardo Giorgio Mattarella 

University of Siena
November 15, 2012

Italian Journal of Public Law, No. 2, pp. 360-375, 2012 
Abstract:      
This paper is divided into three parts. Each part is devoted to four issues, which are always the same: the definition of conflict of interests; the scope of its regulation; the remedies for such situations; and the control and punishment mechanisms. In the first part of the paper, these issues are addressed in general terms. In the second part, they are considered in a comparative perspective. The third part focuses on the Italian legislation and particularly on the cabinet members. The relative statute contains a very unusual definition of conflict of interests. It uses only one of the possible remedies, the disqualification, but under its provisions establishing the grounds for disqualification and proving a violation is practically impossible. The main provision of the statute, in fact, is a fake one.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 16

Keywords: Government Ethics, Conflict of Interest

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2199877