The Sound of Silence in European Administrative Law, 1st ed. 2020

This book examines administrative silence in a comparative manner in the EU law and 13 jurisdictions from Europe. Administrative silence is an issue that lies at the intersection of legal and managerial aspects of public administration, a concept that is both reflecting and testing the principles of legal certainty, legality, good administration, legitimate expectations, and effectiveness. Inactivity or excessive length of proceedings appears to be of interest for comparisons, particularly in the context of the recent attempts to develop European convergence models. The book offers in-depth insights into legal regulation, theory, case law and practice regarding positive and negative legal fictions in the selected European jurisdictions. 

1. In Search of an Effective Model: A Comparative Outlook on Administrative Silence in Europe.- 2. Silence of the EU authorities: the legal. consequences of inaction by the EU administration.- 3. Administrative Silence in Germany.- 4. Silence in the French administrative system: a failed revolution?.- 5. Legal Instruments to Confront Administrative Inaction: a Gift for the Citizen but a Curse for the Government?.- 6. Remedies against Administrative Silence in the Netherlands.- 7. Administrative Silence in Italy, Between (Desired) Simplification and (Practical) Complication.- 8. The Sound of Silence in Spain.- 9. Administrative Silence in Portugal.- 10. Legal and Administrative Challenges of Administrative Silence in Slovenia.- 11. Administrative Silence in Croatia: Between Fiction and Reality.- 12. The Privilege of Silence in Serbian Administrative Law.- 13. Using Legal Fictions to Deal with Administrative Silence. The Case of Romania.- 14. Administrative Silence: A Polish Perspective.- 15. Administrative Silence in Lithuania: Case Law and Data from the Administrative Oversight Institutions.

Dacian C. Dragos is Jean Monnet Professor of Administrative and European Law and Co-director of the Center for Good Governance Studies at the Babes Bolyai University, Romania. Since 2010 he has chaired the Law and Administration panel of the European Group of Public Administration (EGPA). His research publications include several edited books, over 40 chapters in international books, and over 50 papers in scientific journals.

Polonca Kovač, Professor at the Faculty for Public Administration, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. She is a steering committee member of the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee) and a co-director of the Law and Administration panel of the EGPA. She is an editor and author of numerous articles and books, editor-in-chief of the Central European Public Administration Review, and an OECD/SIGMA expert.

Hanna D. Tolsma is Assistant Professor at the Department of Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and Public Administration of the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Her publication mainly relates to administrative law and environmental law. She is a member of the editorial board of AB Rechtspraak Bestuursrecht and honorary judge at the District Court in the North of the Netherlands.