Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.3935/zpfz.70.23.08
Public Consultations in the Regulatory Process in Croatia
Petra Đurman
; Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Public consultations today represent a common instrument for public participation in the regulatory process, that is, in the process of formulating public policies, including draft laws, secondary legislation and other acts. Although public consultations are most often legally regulated, there are differences in the nature, scope and content of the pertinent legal requirements, which – alongside administrative tradition and established practices - reflect on their implementation in practice. In Croatia, public consultations – now in the form of e-consultations – represent a rather new instrument for involving the public in the regulatory process, the features and outcomes of which have not been widely scientifically investigated yet. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is twofold; first, to analyse the legal framework for public consultations and its compatibility with the standards contained in legal acts and documents of the European Union, Council of Europe and other international organizations (UN, OECD). Secondly, the paper aims at providing empirical insights into the implementation of e-consultations in the practice of administrative organizations at different levels of government (national, regional, local). Empirical research has been conducted by a quantitative content analysis of the reports and other documents of the e-consultations implemented in the period from 2016 to 2018. The findings suggest that although the legal framework for public consultations is adequate and compatible with international standards, there are some deficiencies with regard to their practical implementation, such as the frequency of their conduction at the local level, the clarity of the process, etc.
Keywords
public consultations; legal framework; implementation of e-consultations; administrative organizations; empirical research
Hrčak ID:
244580
URI
Publication date:
28.9.2020.
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