Openness and Transparency in (Slovene) Administrative Procedures as Fundamental European Principles

Openness and transparency are general administrative principles, closely related to lawfulness, accountability, responsiveness, participation and other elements of good administration. Despite their long existence in theory and legal documents, both at the European and national levels, the content and the relation of and among the respective principles is blurred. This applies even in single-case administrative procedures through the classic rights of defense, such as the right to access to information or the right to be heard. The paper explores these dimensions based on comparative analyses of the EU Charter, the OECD principles on good administration and governance and the Slovene law on administrative procedures, proving compliance between Slovene and European regulation. Furthermore, a consistent definition is proposed. Transparency is thus understood as parallel to participation. Both are seen as subcategories of openness which, as the sum of the rights of defense, is based on lawfulness and leads to accountability and ethics. However, as revealed by an empirical survey in 2015, the Slovene public administration sees these issues in a rather formal way. Finally, suggestions are made for future legislation and its implementation in terms of open and good administration.