The article examines the evolution of the concept of security in administrative law, showing how environmental security has become a central component of public order, grounded in the principles of prevention, precaution, and sustainability, strengthened by the reform of Article 9 of the Constitution and by European law. The analysis considers the main areas in which this notion operates (food safety, control of industrial emissions, and liability for environmental damage) highlighting the role of emergency powers and the preventive and remedial measures provided for by the Environmental Code. Finally, the article discusses the challenges in identifying the obligated parties and the resulting systemic instability, which today requires balancing environmental protection, public health, and economic interests from an intergenerational perspective.

Following an examination of the principles governing public contracts and their hierarchy as codified in Legislative Decree 36/2023, the author focuses on the relationship between the public administration's liability and the good faith principle, examining the legal implications of the former on the latter. Specifically, it is stated that by broadening the range of legal problems that can be resolved in connection with public procurement, Article 5 c. 2 of the new Code keeps the process of "civilising" administrative law going. This procedure, however, may hit a roadblock in the form of c. 3, which designates as "culpable" the reliance that was fostered in the face of a "easily detectable" illegitimacy.