Administrative Technology and General Administrative Procedure: Challenges and Changes in South-Eastern Europe

Current reforms of the general administrative procedure acts in South-Eastern Europe can be seen as interplay between the legalistic tradition and political and managerial pressure on the rationalization of public administration. Eighty-year tradition of general administrative procedure in the region, especially on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, is an obstacle to administrative modernisation, because administrative procedures are frequently used for and abused in various bureaucratic manoeuvres. Although general administrative procedures can ensure better legal protection of citizens if certain conditions are fulfilled, they should not be used for reducing the complexity of administrative tasks to routine legalistic decision-making. The development of administrative justice can add significantly to the improvement of legal protection of citizens, and it can simultaneously ensure streamlining, simplification and acceleration of administrative procedures. Such modernisation of administrative procedure can be, in the next step, accompanied by significant modernisation of public management. However, instead of the radical New Public Management ideas, legally bounded management seems to be the proper solution.