Top

Published in:

2020 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

11. Administrative Silence in Croatia: Between Fiction and Reality

Authors : Marko Šikić, Anamarija Musa, Bosiljka Britvić Vetma

Published in: The Sound of Silence in European Administrative Law

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

The chapter presents and analyzes the legal framework as well as the administrative and judicial practice with regard to the administrative silence. Starting from the historical development of the institute and attitudes of legal scholarship, the paper explores the issue of timelines of administrative procedure, followed by the presentation and analysis of procedural steps, requirements, and consequences of the public authorities’ failure to act in accordance with the deadlines in administrative procedure. A special emphasis is given to the forms of remedying the failure of public authority to respond in timely manner to the request of the party through administrative appeal procedure and administrative dispute. The empirical part consists of the overview of the incidence of silence of administration in cases initiated by the request for access to information, as well as an overview of the administrative disputes on the grounds of administrative silence.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

previous chapter Legal and Administrative Challenges of Administrative Silence in Slovenia

next chapter The Privilege of Silence in Serbian Administrative Law

Official Gazette 47/2009 (hereinafter the Official Gazette will be referred to as OG).

Article 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, OG 85/2010 (consolidated), 5/2014.

Article 12 LGAP.

OG 20/2010, 143/2012, 152/2014, 94/2016, 29/2017.

For the types of public bodies, see Musa (2018, pp. 345–348).

See Koprić et al. (2017).

For detailed list see Ljubanović (2006).

Cf. Ljubanović (2010) and Koprić et al. (2016).

In situations when facts are determined or known or when the reasons of urgency require such a procedure, see Articles 48–50 LGAP.

It has to be conducted whenever it is necessary to determine the facts and circumstances relevant for the clarification of the legal situation, or when two or more parties with opposing interests participate in the procedure, see Articles 51–57 LGAP.

Article 121 LGAP.

For example, the State Public Procurement Appeal Commission states in its annual reports that the average time for the appeal decision in 2016 was 34 days, and 38 days in 2015, slightly beyond the statutory deadline (30 days). However, it also states that the average time for a decision, after the file has been completed (data from the first instance body received) was 11 days.

The previous LGAP allowed only the prescription of shorter deadlines.

Cf. Šikić et al. (2011) and Ljubanović (2010).

The express procedure requires 2 months. See Articles 40§1 and 41§1 of the Law on International and Temporary protection (Law on Asylum).

Articles 88 and 99§3 of the Law on the Environmental Protection.

Article 59 of the Law on Pension Insurance.

Article 20 of the Law on Electronic Communication.

Article 19§1 of the Law on Regulated Professions.

Article 20§4 of the Law on Electronic Communications.

Article 19§1 of the Law on Regulated Professions.

Cf. Šikić (2013).

Article 81 LGAP.

Article 40§2 LGAP.

Cf. Šikić et al. (2011).

Articles 101§1 and 97§3 LGAP.

Article 101 LGAP.

Cf. Šikić (2013, p. 458) and Šikić (2010, pp. 96–99).

Everyone has the right to an independent and impartial court established by law which fairly and within a reasonable time brings a decision on their rights or obligations, or on their suspicion and/or accusation of a criminal offense (Article 29§1 of the Constitution).

OG 99/1999, 29/2002, 49/2002.

OG 28/2013, 33/2015, 82/2015, 82/2016, 67/2018.

The cases Rajak v. Croatia, ECHR no. 49,706/99 [2001]; Horvat v. Croatia ECHR 51585/99 [2001] have had significant effect on the development of the legal framework on the reasonable time.

There were several ECHR judgments related the issue of reasonable time: Počuča v. Croatia ECHR no. 38550/02 [2006]; Božić v. Croatia ECHR no. 22457/02 [2006]; Vajagić v. Croatia ECHR no. 30431/03 [2006].

Cf. Constitutional Court, Decision and Judgment U-IIIA-4885/2005 of 20 June 2007.

Cf. Đerđa (2013, p. 4).

European Commission (2018, pp. 11–12).

Šikić (2006, 2008).

Cf. Šikić (2008, 2010, 2013); Šikić et al. (2011).

Such a protection system was introduced by the world’s first codification of the administrative procedure, the Austrian General Administrative Procedure Act of 1925. According to it, the protection of citizens was provided only against the silence of first-degree bodies, because after the expiry of the six-month application deadline parties could request a transfer to a hierarchically more competent authority.

Article 101§3 LGAP.

Articles 101 and 102 LGAP.

Article 119§1 LGAP.

Article 109 LGAP.

Article 102§1 LGAP.

In Article 25§8 of the Law on the civil society associations regarding the registration of the association (OG 74/2014, 70/2017); Articles 10§9 and 19§3 of the Law on regulated professions in relation to the recognition of professional qualifications (OG 82/2015), Article 8§3 of the Law on establishments in relation to the eligibility of the founding act (OG 76/1993, 29/1997, 47/1999, 35/2008), and few others.

Article 102§2 LGAP.

See Šikić (2010) and Šikić et al. (2011).

Cf. Šikić (2010).

Article 21 LGAP.

Article 110 § 1 LGAP.

Cf. Šikić (2009a).

Cf. Šikić (2013) and Šikić and Staničić (2009).

See Đerđa and Šikić (2012), Musa (2014), and Koprić et al. (2017).

Article 3§1/3 LAD.

Staničić et al. (2017, p. 42) and Šikić (2009b).

Cf. Đerđa and Šikić (2012, pp. 90–91, 94); Articles 122, 155 and 156 LGAP.

Staničić et al. (2017, pp. 89–92), Article 24§2 LAD.

Article 30 LAD.

Article 57 LAD.

Staničić et al. (2017, p. 96).

Article 58§3 LAD.

In its decision Hornby vs Greece (1997), the ECHR connected the execution of the court decisions with the right to fair trial.

Article 159 LGAP.

Article 160 LGAP.

Article 155 LGAP.

Decision No. U-IIIB /4366/2005, 5 April 2006. The Constitutional Court accentuated the principles of legal certainty and the related principle of protecting the legitimate expectations of the parties in the proceedings in which they decide on their rights and obligations as the core constituents of the rule of law and the respect of human rights, which are the highest values of the constitutional order of the Republic of Croatia.

Article 93 of the Constitution and the Law on Ombudsman, OG 76/2012.

Annual reports of the Ombudsman are accessible here: http://ombudsman.hr/hr/izvjesca-hr.

http://www.udu-mz.hr/?gid=52&aid=341.

However, the attempts of the central administration to introduce the unique IT system for documenting the administrative procedures might become a platform for data collection in the near future.

OG 25/2013, 85/2015; See Musa (2018).

E.g., formal decision is not required if the right is granted, etc. See Ofak (2016).

Article 20§1 and Article 22§2 LRTI; Prolongation is possible if the information has to be sought outside the seat of the authority; in case of voluminous requests; if it is necessary to ensure the completeness and correctness of information; if public interest test has to be performed.

Article 25§3,5,6 LRTI.

The data retrieved from the Office of the Information Commissioner.

The beginning date is the date of the receipt of the appeal in the Office of the Commissioner, the end date is the date of the decision (delivery, which also has to be included in the deadline, is not included because data is not available).

Đerđa, D. (2013). Učinak europskih pravnih pravila na pravno normiranje upravnog postupka u Hrvatskoj. Zbornik Radova Pravnog Fakulteta U Splitu, 50(2), 393–427.

Đerđa, D., & Šikić, M. (2012). Komentar Zakona o upravnim sporovima. Zagreb: Novi informator.

European Commission. (2018). The EU Justice Scoreboard 2018. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/justice_scoreboard_2018_en.pdf.

Koprić, I. et al. (2016). Legal Remedies in Administrative Procedures in Western Balkans. Danilovgrad: ReSPA. https://www.respaweb.eu/11/library#respa-publications-2016-7.

Koprić, I., Kovač, P., & Britvić Vetma, B. (2017). Zaštita prava građana u odnosu s javnom upravom: povijesni razvoj, sadašnje stanje i perspektive razvoja u Hrvatskoj i Sloveniji. In I. Koprić, A. Musa & T. Giljević (Eds.), Građani, javna uprava i lokalna samouprava: povjerenje, suradnja i potpora (pp. 295–340). Zagreb: Institut za javnu upravu.

Ljubanović, B. (2006). Posebni upravni postupci u Republici Hrvatskoj. Hrvatska javna uprava, 6(3), 5–22.

Ljubanović, B. (2010). Novi Zakon o općem upravnom postupku i posebni upravni postupci. Hrvatska javna uprava, 10(2), 319–328.

Musa, A. (2014). Administrative Law and Public Administration. In T. Josipović (Ed.), Introduction to the Law of Croatia (pp. 55–93). Alphen aan den Rijn: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.

Musa, A. (2018). Croatia: The Transparency Landscape. In D. Dragos, P. Kovač, & B. Marseille (Eds.), The Laws of Transparency in Action: A European Perspective (pp. 339–387). London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Ofak, L. (2016). The Right of Access to Information as a Right Protected by The European Convention and Other International Human Rights Treaties. Zbornik Pravnog Fakulteta Sveučilišta U Rijeci, 37(2), 921–951.CrossRef

Šikić, M. (2006). Temelji zaštite građana od šutnje uprave u Republici Hrvatskoj. Hrvatska javna uprava, 6(2), 121–148.

Šikić, M. (2008). Primjena pravnih fikcija u institutu zaštite građana od šutnje uprave. Zbornik Radova Pravnog Fakulteta U Splitu, 45(1), 149–175.

Šikić, M. (2009a). Pravo na suđenje u razumnom roku u postupcima pred Upravnim sudom Republike Hrvatske. Zbornik Pravnog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Rijeci, 30(1), 333–372.

Šikić, M. (2009b). Pravna zaštita od šutnje uprave prema novom Zakonu o općem upravnom postupku. In I. Koprić & V. Đulabić (Eds.), Modernizacija općeg upravnog postupka i javne uprave u Hrvatskoj (pp. 191–213). Zagreb: Društveno veleučilište & Institut za javnu upravu.

Šikić, M. (2010). Vremenski okviri odlučivanja u Hrvatskom upravnom sporu. Zbornik radova Pravnog fakulteta u Splitu, 47(1), 93–112.

Šikić, M. (2013). Utjecaj prakse (presuda) Europskog suda za zaštitu ljudskih prava na upravno sudovanje u Republici Hrvatskoj. Zbornik Radova Pravnog Fakulteta U Splitu, 50(2), 357–471.

Šikić, M., & Staničić, F. (2009). Uređenje žalbe u posebnim upravnim postupcima. Hrvatska pravna revija, 9(4), 43–52.

Šikić, M., Staničić, F., &Turudić, M. (2011). Pravna zaštita od šutnje uprave u posebnim upravnim postupcima. Hrvatska pravna revija, 11(3), 80–92.

Staničić, F., Britvić Vetma, B., & Horvat, B. (2017). Komentar Zakona o upravnim sporovima. Zagreb: Narodne novine.

Title: Administrative Silence in Croatia: Between Fiction and Reality
Authors: Marko Šikić
Anamarija Musa
Bosiljka Britvić Vetma
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: The Sound of Silence in European Administrative Law
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-45226-1

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-45227-8

Copyright Year: 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45227-8_11