Simplification of Administrative Procedures – in Search of Efficiency, Public Interest Protection and Legitimate Expectations

Dear Colleagues,

Following the most recent trends in public administration within the context of good public governance, and consequently changes in administrative law in supra- and national scales, one cannot overlook the systemic aim of simplifying administrative relations. Administrative procedures in particular are often seen purely as an administrative burden to be removed or at least highly reduced, even though their core function is to enforce sectoral public interest. At the same time, some jurisdictions and administrations tend to regulate and conduct procedures in a too formalized way to act competitively in global market and digitalized operations. Therefore, in all European countries and the EU alike, discussions are taking place on how to guarantee that disputes between public authorities and citizens/businesses are resolved as quickly as possible by means of a simple and amicable procedure (in order to, e.g., build a house or gain social benefits), yet without compromising the standards of careful examination and public interest protection (e.g., collecting taxes, inspection supervision). Various changes that take places according to societal requirements of denormalization—as recently seen during the COVID-19 pandemic—are hence inevitable and also an object of scholar and comparative analyses. Research issues to be address in this Special Issue of Administrative Sciences are, among others, the following:

• How to balance public interest protection vs. efficient enforcement of individuals’ rights;
• What the up-to-date directions of general Administrative Procedure Act/Code changes are in order to adapt to the requirements of more efficient administrations, and what the measures adopted are to avoid lengthy back-and-forth proceedings and provide legal certainty;
• Where to set the limits for red tape reduction in admin law (criteria, best and bad practices);
• What positive and negative lessons can be learned in practicing ADR in admin law;
• Which procedural rules might be too rigid and, consequently, which related procedural flaws can be overcome by various institutes through bypassing or healing them; how legal remedies are developing to ensure a balance of protected interests and avoid vexatious litigations;
• Which role administrative courts need to excise, taking into account principles, such as the rule of law, proportionality, legitimate expectations, res iudicata, and fair trial;
• What we can learn from COVID-19 pandemic simplifications in admin procedures.

These issues can be explored as a more theoretically based research or empirical analysis and (national) cases studies in both general and sector-specific administrative areas (taxation, migration, construction, social affairs, etc.). We welcome original research as well as review papers, while comparative contributions shall be prioritized.

Dr. Polonca Kovač
Dr. Dacian C. Dragos
Guest Editors

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• Administrative procedural law
• Simplification and efficiency
• Public interest