lacks, generically, the juridical cause which might justify it and make
it operative."
126. In support of this conclusion, the Prefect explained that the
Mayor had believed that he could deal with the situation by means of a
requisition, without appreciating that
"the state of the Company as a result of circumstances of a functionaleconomic and market nature, was such as not to permit of the continuation of its activity".
He also emphasized the shutdown of the plant and the protest actions of
the staff, and the fact that the requisition had not succeeded in preserving
public order. Finally the Prefect also observed that the order had been
adopted
"anchesotto l'injlusso dellepressioni e dei rilieviformulati dalla stampa
cittadina, per cui è da ritenere che il Sindaco, anche per sottrarvisi e dimostrare l'intendimento della Pubblica Amministrazione di intervenire
in qualche modo, addivenne alla requisizione quale provvedimento
diretto più che altro a porre in evidenza la sua intenzione di affrontare
comunque ilproblema".
In the translation of the Prefect's decision supplied by the Applicant :
"also under the influence of the pressure created by, and of the
remarks made by the local press; therefore we have to hold that the
Mayor, also in order to get out of the above and to show the intent of
the Public Administration to intervene in one way or another, issued
the order of requisition as a measure mainly directed to emphasize
his intent to face the problem in some way [or, as quoted in the judgment of the Court of Appeal of Palermo, in the translation supplied
by the Applicant : 'his intention to tackle the problem just the same']".
It was of course understandable that the Mayor, as a public official,
should have made his order, in some measure, as a response to local public
pressures; and the Chamber does not see, in this passage of the Prefect's
decision, any ground on which it might be suggested that the order was
therefore arbitrary.
127. In the action brought by the trustee in bankruptcy for damages on
account of the requisition, the Court of Palermo and subsequently the
Court of Appeal of Palermo had to consider the legal significance of the
decision of the Prefect. The Court of Palermo accepted the argument of
the respondent administration that "ilprovvedimento prefettizio è sostanzialmente di revoca dell'atto richiamato essendo stati ritenuti irrealizzabiligli
scopi cui 10 stesso miravano",i.e., that "the Prefect's order is in substance a
revocation of the act in question, the objectives which were contemplated
by it having been adjudged to have been impossible to achieve". When the
matter came before the Court of Appeal, it observed that this argument
was contrary to the argument of the trustee in bankmptcy "che ravvisa in