Administrative Law and Gian Domenico Romagnosi, 250 Years After His Birth

By Alberto Massera

 

Despite his changing fortune among legal scholars, Romagnosi may still
represent today, in the words of M.S. Giannini in 1940, “a starting point for
new research”. This essay aims to analyze the parts and elements of Romagnosi’s
work that are most important for current development of administrative
law. By analyzing certain aspects of his work – both as a “legal theorist” and
as a “legislator”, committed to the reform of law schools – this essay seeks to
express his ideas, of enduring modernity, and highlight his capacity to rationally
connect the (then-)rising administrative law with other, non-legal disciplines.