Reform: the audit system

This study discusses the reform of the Italian audit system initiated by law in 1990 and subsequently regulated by the Executive branch through delegation from Parliament. Despite the redundancy of the regulations, the new system appears to be coherent with the wider design of public administration reform. Audit is no longer limited to preventing illegal acts issued by public administrations, but it is also directed to detect anomalies and inconsistencies of public management and propose corrections to improve performance. The real challenge of the reform lays in its implementation.