Abstract

The essay aims to analyse the outcome principle, foreseen in Art. 1 of the Public Contracts Code (legislative decree no. 36/2023), through an exegetical approach, a review of the main characters, and an analysis of the most significant case law. The conclusion is that the outcome must be understood as a result-legality, the outcome of a conscious disproportion, capable of leading to the right measure of power through the principle of proportionality. The outcome principle is not a new one, but the sedimentation of decades of doctrinal reflections and case-law guidelines. It is also noted that the joint action of the codification of the principle, accompanied by its evocative and symbolic meaning, and the subsequent contribution of judicial interpretation, can lead to important achievements for administrative law.