To err is human

In France the right to make a mistake has been granted to citizens by Parliament. It's a way of conceding that when dealing with bureaucracy not everyone gets it right first time round. It's also a way of getting people to own up to minor transgressions without fear of reprisals.

There are limits to the French Parliament's magnitude: citizens can make a mistake only once and it must be done in good faith. But it's a step forward. 

Italy has an even more byzantine bureaucracy than France.The pursuit of elusive bits of paper to prove information which is known is an obligatory rite of passage for anyone hoping to stay in Italy long term. There are scores of offices and buildings stuffed full of files all over the nation. Obtaining the various documents involves some kind of cost usually both monetary and temporal. It also involves dealing with the disgruntled employees of public administration offices, who knowing they can't be fired, have dispensed with any semblance of customer service. Why should they when the customer is always wrong? 

Thus, one employee may require certain documents for a transaction whereas another may require different ones for exactly the same transaction. A colleague traipsed off to get a birth certificate translated (a certified translation)and  was then told upon handing in her translation: "Oh, you didn't need to do that!" There's of course no point in getting angry in such situations. And yes, most foreign documents must be translated, neither a simple nor inexpensive undertaking. 

The concept of making a mistake in good faith doesn't exist in Italy. Actually, I suspect that the notion of good faith doesn't exist here. This may explain why people never own up to having made a mistake. Ever. Thus ordinary mortals when dealing with bureaucracy have to have the knowledge of a lawyer and an accountant rolled into one, that's for starters. Hence, there is a large number of offices providing services such as help to fill in tax returns, help with contracts etc.... It's a lucrative business. However, should the service provider make a mistake they are not liable. The customer who hired their services is. There's no way out with such a system.

Another colleague, in good faith, handed in an incorrectly filled (by her accountant) tax return form (her employer hadn't paid as much as he should have).  Five years later, the mistake was noticed. She argued that it had been a mistake. How could she have known what her accountant hadn't noticed? she argued. "Ignorance isn't an excuse," was the convenient coverall repost. She was fined and charged five years accrued interest on the fine. Again, in such circumstances, there is no point losing ones rag.

So good on France for recognising that people can make mistakes. It's high time that happened here.