Diritti fondamentali, effettività della tutela, giudice amministrativo

Nelle materie di giurisdizione esclusiva, il giudice amministrativo è chiamato a tutelare i diritti fondamentali incisi dai poteri pubblici, secondo quanto ha affermato la Corte costituzionale correggendo il diverso orientamento della Corte di cassazione. Occorre in ogni caso che la garanzia giurisdizionale offerta dal giudice amministrativo sia piena ed effettiva, alla luce degli artt. 24 e 111 Cost., dell’art. 6 CEDU e dell’art. 19 TUE. Il principio di piena tutela richiede l’attribuzione di poteri processuali adeguati al bisogno di giustizia e presuppone garanzie d’indipendenza omogenee a quelle del giudice civile. Su questi fattori il giudice amministrativo finirà per consolidare o per perdere la sua legittimazione. In the matters falling within his exclusive jurisdiction, the administrative judge is expected to protect the fundamental rights restricted by the public powers, according to Constitutional Court’s statement rectifying the jurisprudence of the Court of Cassation. On the basis of articles 24 and 111 of the Italian Constitution, 6 ECHR, 19 TEU the jurisdictional guarantee offered by the administrative courts need to be, in any case, full and effective. The principle of full judicial protection requires an administrative judge with adequate powers and presupposes guarantees of independence similar to the civil judge's ones. These standards are necessary conditions for the administrative judge’s legitimacy

Le leggi a oggetto plurimo: una spina nel fianco della riforma?

L’art. 70 Cost., come riformulato dall’art. 10 dal testo di revisione costituzionale, opera una minuta differenziazione dei procedimenti legislativi che secondo parte della dottrina potrebbe determinare incertezze applicative e conflitti intercamerali, che dovrebbero essere superati attraverso lo strumento delle intese fra i Presidenti delle due Camere. Specifico approfondimento è dedicato all'ammissibilità nel nuovo sistema delle leggi ad oggetto plurimo, che presentino una interconnessione tra i profili ordinamentali - bisognosi, in astratto, di esame bicamerale pieno - e la disciplina di settore, per la quale vale il procedimento ordinario tendenzialmente monocamerale

L’INCERTA SORTE DELL’AUTONOMIA PARLAMENTARE

Per lungo tempo la posizione costituzionale d’indipendenza ha fornito la base giustificativa della riserva di autoregolazione delle Camere e della carenza di giurisdizione esterna. Ma il cattivo uso del potere parlamentare, l'omesso controllo, la mancata sanzione delle violazioni hanno incrinato la garanzia d’indipendenza. L'abuso di prerogativa compromette la legittimazione del Parlamento e scredita la classe politica. Occorre rimediare: servono correzioni della prassi e revisioni normative per ricalibrare l’autonomia parlamentare e riconciliarla con i principi generali. Constitutionally-guaranteed independence used to be the cornerstone of Parliament's self-regulating authority and its independence of the Judiciary. However, misuse of parliamentary authority, an absence of checks and failure to impose sanctions in cases of violation undermine such guarantee of independence. By abusing privilege, Parliament loses legitimacy and politicians fall into disrepute. Remedial action is needed: new practices and a regulatory review are needed in order to revise parliamentary autonomy and reconcile it with general principles

Promozione della concorrenza e sindacato giurisdizionale: le vicende dei servizi pubblici locali

L’instabilità della normativa sulla gestione dei servizi pubblici locali rivela una difficoltà istituzionale: come innovare, con il concorso dei diversi livelli di governo, un settore rilevante per lo sviluppo economico. La riforma del 2008-2009 pone il principio della gara per il mercato e limita la gestione in house attraverso società pubbliche. Soffrono di questa stretta i comuni, che avvertono come una morsa il vaglio preventivo dell'Autorità antitrust. Il referendum del giugno 2011 catalizza preoccupazioni sulla gestione del servizio idrico: la mobilitazione per l’«acqua bene comune» porta all’abrogazione dell’intera normativa di riforma. Oggi occorre ripartire dai principi del diritto europeo. Negli spazi che il diritto europeo lascia impregiudicati, si può lavorare su norme pro-concorrenziali specifiche, per valorizzare le possibilità di sviluppo industriale salvaguardando la missione dei servizi d’interesse generale, che sono strumento della coesione sociale e territoriale. Judicial Review and Promotion of Competition: the case of Local Public Services - Unstable regulation of local public services raises a constitutional challenge: how to bring innovation, in consultation with the various tiers of government, into a key sector for economic development. The reform of 2008-2009 laid down the principle of competition for the field and curbed the operation of services through in-house public utilities. Cities feel they have been placed under the yoke of the anti-trust authority. The June 2011 referendum acted as a catalyst for a growing concern on public services: the «water as a common asset» campaign lead to the abrogation of the whole reform. Today, we should move from the principles enshrined in European law. In those areas where European legislation leaves some leeway, ad hoc rules to spur competition should be devised, to enhance the possibilities of industrial development, while safeguarding the mission of public utilities, which are a tool of social and territorial cohesio

Peritumoral perfusion and proton spectroscopic MR imaging in the differentiation of gliomas and solitary metastases

Purpose: To asses the value of peritumoural perfusion-weighted and proton spectroscopic MR imaging in preoperative grading of gliomas and in differentiating between primary gliomas and solitary metastases. Methods and Materials: Ten low-grade gliomas, eight high-grade gliomas, and ten metastases were prospectively evaluated with MR imaging, dynamic susceptibility contrast-enhanced perfusion imaging, and single-voxel proton MR spectroscopy before surgical resection or stereotactic biopsy. Maximal rCBV values and maximal Cho/Cr ratios were calculated from peritumoural region surrounding the tumour. Tumour grade presumed with these values was compared to histopathologic grading. Differences in the study parameters between groups were assessed using the Mann-Whitney test. A Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis was performed to determine cutoff values. Results: A clear rCBV cutoff value of 1.88 was detected for differentiating low-grade gliomas from high-grade gliomas (sensitivity 100%, specificity 90%, area under the ROC curve .994, p< 0.0001). A clear rCBV cutoff value of 1.20 was detected for differentiation of metastases from gliomas (sensitivity 100%, specificity 90%, area under the ROC curve .972, p< 0.0001). The differences in the Cho/Cr ratios in the peritumoural regions of high-grade gliomas and of solitary metastasis were statistically significant (p<.001) but a clear cutoff value was not found. Conclusion: Our preliminary data support that peritumoural perfusion-weighted imaging can assist in preoperative differentiation between a glioma and a solitary metastasis, along with separating high-grade gliomas from low-grade gliomas

A rare case of Enchondromatosis of the knees and hands with involvement of Hoffa's fat pad and peri-articular soft-tissues

We report a case of a 56-year old man with chronic pain in both knees for several years. This patient had already undergone surgery on his left knee in 2002 after an x-ray showed multiple lytic and well margined lesions in the distal femur and proximal tibia with ground-glass matrix, involving Hoffa's fat pad and the patellar ligament. Histology was consistent with an enchondroma. The most recent MRI examination showed enchondromatosis involving both knees with bilateral extension into Hoffa's fat pad and the patellar ligament. Subsequently, we performed an additional radiographic examination of the hands and feet, as well as an MRI of both hands to identify other possible enchondromas in the most common sites for this disease. Enchondromatosis with soft tissue involvement is extremely rare, and involvement of Hoffa's fat pad has not been reported in the scientific literature. The clinical presentation of this case and the general aspects of Enchondromatosis are discussed

Role of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in local complications of acute pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis (AP) represents a pancreas inflammation of sudden onset that can present different degrees of severity. AP is a frequent cause of acute abdomen and its complications are still a cause of death. Biliary calculosis and alcohol abuse are the most frequent cause of AP. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are not necessary for the diagnosis of AP but they are fundamental tools for the identification of the cause, degree severity and AP complications. AP severity assessment is in fact one of the most important issue in disease management. Contrast-enhanced CT is preferred in the emergency setting and is considered the gold standard in patients with AP. MRI is comparable to CT for the diagnosis of AP but requires much more time so it is not usually chosen in the emergency scenario. Complications of AP can be distinguished in localized and generalized. Among the localized complications, we can identify: acute peripancreatic fluid collections (APFC), pseudocysts, acute necrotic collections (ANC), walled off pancreatic necrosis (WOPN), venous thrombosis, pseudoaneurysms and haemorrhage. Multiple organ failure syndrome (MOFS) and sepsis are possible generalized complications of AP. In this review, we focus on CT and MRI findings in local complications of AP and when and how to perform CT and MRI. We paid also attention to recent developments in diagnostic classification of AP complications