Abstract

Because they stand midway among the three traditional powers of the state, and because of the heterogeneity of the powers assigned to them, the independent administrative authorities are an awkward issue now at the centre of current debate. On analysing the French case, the author shows that the introduction of administrative authorities unrestricted by hierarchical constraints with the executive have given rise to complex problems of systematic organization, and that it has called fundamental aspects of the constitutional structure into question. Breaking down the administrative pyramid with the government at its apex challenges the French conception of the separation of powers and, in the final analysis, the democratic principle itself on which the state is erected. After discussion of the some of the most significant features of the organization and functioning of the French Aai, with particular regard to the guarantees of independence from the political power accorded them, the author suggests that the Aai are still awaiting the status of genuine independence that alone could determine their utility.