In the public sector, the rise of public audit institutions has ancient origins, and their scope has evolved in response to a growing demand for accountability and transparency. At the national level, the Italian Court of Auditors assumes primary importance in the legal system due to its specific functional and structural characteristics. The Court’s role is to act as an external auditing body to ensure the legality and integrity of the public treasury. Although its historical genesis can be traced back to periods preceding the Middle Ages, the Court was formally established only in 1862 as a unique and independent body. Since its foundation, the Court has played a crucial role in enhancing transparency, efficiency, and public spending accountability. Drawing on these premises, this study aims to trace the evolution of the Italian Court of Auditors, from the pre-unification courts to its legitimation in the Italian Constitution. Particularly, the contribution focuses on the nature of the control function and its development in the three major institutional phases of Italian modern history: the liberal monarchy, the fascist regime, and the republican democracy. During the time frame considered, the Court’s role has moved from traditional compliance and financial audits to more dynamic performance audits. Our historical analysis highlights how structural, functional and conceptual characteristics of the Court changed in response to the political and socio-economic scenario shifts. Through an in-depth documentary analysis based on primary and secondary sources, our investigation aims to offer a nuanced understanding of the Court’s adaptation to increasingly complex governance challenges, offering insights into the interplay between institutional evolution and the modernization of public administration in Italy. For this purpose, the work integrates into the research units of History of Companies and Public Institutions, by adopting a theoretical perspective of historical-administrative. The findings demonstrate how the transformations of the Court, and its functional spheres are the results of the joint action of numerous factors of change.
KEYWORDS: Italian Court of Auditors; Public accountability; Control function Evolution; Audit institutions.
