Administrative Silence in Croatia: Between Fiction and Reality

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.