Consequences of administrative silence in public administration

This article reviews the problem of administrative silence that has significant negative consequences regarding the administration and fulfilment of the basic principles of administrative procedures related to citizens’ rights. The article highlights the situation of when a citizen or legal entity has filed a submission with an administrative body, which has then not issued an administrative act within a reasonable time. The article raises questions of the consequences and legal effects of administrative silence and the legal instruments required to protect citizens’ rights in such cases. The article begins with the completion of administrative procedure as provided by the respective rules, continues with a treatment of the consequences of administrative silence and concludes on the legal instruments protecting citizens’ rights. This article comments that, in most EU countries, ‘fictitious decisions’ are more often chosen as a solution to administrative silence, given the influence of international obligations such as EU directives, OECD reports and other relevant international instruments.