Modalities of Legal Protection in Cases of “administrative Silence” in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

The modern administration achieves direct cooperation with citizens and business entities and, on the basis of the law, decides on their rights and obligations. Its legal obligation is to resolve the requests of the parties within the prescribed time limits. However, in certain situations, they fail to decide on the party’s request within the prescibred time, that is, to pass an administrative act. This is a prerequisite for the emergence of a specific administrative-procedural institute called “administrative silence”. This institute represents a kind of test of the principles of the rule of law, legality and good administration. Given that it is a socially harmful act, certain mechanisms of legal protection are foreseen through several different instruments: the right to appeal to a second instance authority, the right to initiate administrative-court proceedings, and the right to fair satisfaction. In addition, other means can be used, such as inspection supervision by the administrative inspection, and the intervention of the ombudsman institution. The existence of effective legal protection in case of „administrative silence“ is of great importance because it serves not only to protect the subjective rights of the party, but also becomes a corrective factor in the work of the administration, which contributes to the achievement of objective legality. Based on the analysis, the authors offer certain de lege ferenda proposals in order to further improve the level of protection of citizens against the „administrative silence“.