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.

In administrative matters, the parties usually have a right of access to the court and to a fair trial within a reasonable time limit, as defi ned by constitutions, only aft er the exhaustion of appeals. Judicial review is performed in a majority of states by a specialised administrative court in accordance with Articles 6 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Based on a comparative research analysis of supranational and national normative law and European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case law, this paper provides insight into the extent to which administrative matters can be reviewed in administrative disputes as well as into the legal remedies available to the parties, especially when the authorities violate time limits, focusing on the compliance of the regulation in Slovenia and Croatia with the ECHR standards. Th e paper also illustrates a comparative perspective of regulation in other European countries, namely Austria and Estonia. Our fi ndings show the importance of the awareness of the necessary interplay between acts on administrative procedure and acts on administrative disputes for an eff ective realisation of the parties' rights and the public interest, with administrative justice ensuring a safety net by guaranteeing an eff ective legal remedy.

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Aanbevolen citeerwijze bij dit artikel Tina Sever en Polonca Kovac, 'EU principles as a guide for modelling timely administrative procedures in Slovenia and Croatia', NALL maart 2016,