Administrative procedures (APs) are tools to protect fundamental human rights in statecitizen relations. As the modernization of public administration regulation is undergoing a transformation in the direction of reducing detailed rules on APs and, by the same token, emphasizing fundamental or general principles, research on the development and the state of the art of administrative principles in the general administrative procedure acts (APAs) of selected Eastern Europe countries with a common heritage of Austrian law dating back to 1925 (Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and the Czech Republic) was carried out. The normative-comparative analysis reveals differences in approaches to and the pace of APAs reform and content; some countries are taking a more radical approach, mainly by following good governance dimensions. Convergence based on Council of Europe and EU initiatives is also evident. Classical guarantees against the misuse of power (principles of legality, equality, proportionality, rights of defense, etc.) are therefore crucial. The most progress seems to have been made by Croatia and the Czech Republic; by focusing on partnerships in administrative-legal relations in the sense of good administration, these two countries have, among other things, set a trend for other countries to follow.
Public procurement is one of the key points of contact between public administration and the economy, while the amount of public resources is a possible source of conflict of interest and corruption. The article aims to contribute to improvements in public procurement legislation and practice. The article examines the practice of supervisory bodies and assesses the frequency of violations of the principle of transparency. The main findings of the article are that over the years of application of the Public Procurement Act in versions ZJN-2 and ZJN-3, the number of violations of the basic principle of transparency increased – the most frequent violations concerning discriminatory criteria set by the contracting authorities and their implementation in the selection phase – and that local municipal bodies violated the principle of transparency more often than state bodies.
Local self-government has faced a number of challenges over the past decade. The financial crisis has revealed new dimensions of the eternal question of financing self-governing local communities, while distrust and a lack of interest in participation in local democracy among the people have led to considerations of different approaches to public decision-making concerning local issues. A comparative overview shows that the question of the “perfect size” of municipalities is currently very relevant and aimed at finding dimensions that would enable the municipality to ensure both local-level democracy and identity and economic efficiency in the delivery of public services. The most popular tool for achieving this goal is the merger of municipalities, although other approaches also exist, including various forms of inter-municipal cooperation. Some forms of inter-municipal cooperation have already taken firm hold in Slovenia, although the question of the potential impacts of alternative forms of inter-municipal cooperation on the democratic legitimacy of decision-making processes and the potential of these processes for the developmental breakthrough of Slovenian municipalities has yet to receive adequate attention.
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