But anyone who knows the sector knows that with an increase in the number of technical staff and the strengthening of the directorates it is perfectly possible to speed things up.
Early this month, an open letter signed by the American linguist Noam Chomsky and the British filmmaker Ken Loach, among others, was sent to the Workers Partyy directorate, urging it to reconsider its position.
The Immigration and Nationality Directorate said it had cut the backlog of outstanding cases from 100,000 two years ago to 35,000 today.
The South African independent police investigative directorate said it was investigating claims that more than 100 striking miners were assaulted in police custody.
Since 1983 the group had been part of the Home Office's police directorate, where it could work directly with forces around the country.
Detective chief superintendent Dave Clark, head of City of London police's economic crime directorate, said it was an "unfortunate reality" that fraudsters were rife on online booking sites.
On 9 November, 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the French Directorate, replacing it with the French Consulate, signalling the end of the French revolution and the beginnings of French imperialism.
The Airtours decision should now jolt the commission into far-reaching reforms, says Chris Bright of Shearman & Sterling, an American law firm.The question is whether Mario Monti, the Italian commissioner who heads the competition directorate, sees it that way.
The security directorate "said it is frightening people more and weakens the morale of people as well as the security forces," said Abdul Qadeer Merzayee, director of news for Ariana TV, a local station.
Dr Ashraf Marwan's alleged murder is now being overseen by Scotland Yard's elite Specialist Crime Directorate, after it emerged that shoes worn when he fell five floors to his death could not be found by a previous inquiry team.
