Right to good administration (as established by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union)

Straipsnyje nagrinėjama Europos Sąjungos pagrindinių teisių chartijos 41 straipsnyje įtvirtintos teisės į gerą administravimą įtaka pažeistoms subjektinėms teisėms ginti Lietuvoje. Analizuojama teisės į gerą administravimą, kartu gero administravimo principo samprata tiek supranacionaliniu, tiek nacionaliniu lygmenimis, atskleidžiamas jų santykis, taip pat šios teisės (kartu ir gero administravimo principo) vaidmuo nacionaliniu lygmeniu ginant viešojo administravimo subjektų veiksmais ar neveikimu galimai pažeistas subjektines teises. Atlikto tyrimo pagrindu pateikiamos išvados, leidžiančios atsakyti į klausimą, kokią įtaką Europos Sąjungos pagrindinių teisių chartijos 41 straipsnyje įtvirtinta teisė į gerą administravimą turi viešojo administravimo subjektų veiksmais ar neveikimu pažeistų subjektinių teisių gynimui Lietuvoje.The article investigates the principle of good administration, i. e. the right to good administration as established in Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (hereinafter – the Charter). It looks into the possible influence, as well as the scope of the influence of the said provision, in determining the standard of protection of individual rights arising both from European Union and from national law in Lithuania. The article analyses the concept of the right to good administration on both the supranational and national levels (first, as an individual right established by the Charter, and then as a principle enshrined in national constitutional and ordinary law). An emphasis is also laid on the Charter and Article 41 of the thereof as a source of law in Lithuania, as well as the contents of the principle of good administration in protecting individual rights, which had possibly been breached by the acts or inaction of entities of public administration. The article, firstly, concludes that the national laws of the Republic of Lithuania do not yet explicitly establish the right to good administration or a relevant administrative imperative (nor a clear definition of the scope and content thereof). However, the legal basis for the protection of individual rights based on the principle of good administration is formed through provisions of the Law on Public Administration of the Republic of Lithuania establishing individual rights such as the right to be heard, the right to a reasoned (motivated) administrative decision, the right to an administrative decision (one’s right to have his or her affairs handled) within a reasonable time, etc. Therefore, the overall legal regulation (including the official jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania and national administrative courts) establishes the preconditions for ensuring the procedural imperatives of the standard of good administration, which at least to a certain aspect correspond with those laid down in Article 41 of the Charter. Secondly, the article ascertains that the significance of the Charter as an integral part of EU primary law is a source of legal interpretation in the context of protection of breached individual rights in Lithuania and, inter alia, preconditions the formulation of relevant standards of acts of entities of public administration, the non-compliance with which has direct effect on the protection of individual rights. Thirdly, a conclusion is made that the content and scope of applicability of the right to good administration within national public law and, specifically, with regard to the protection of individual rights breached by acts or inaction of entities of public administration, is fully disclosed only when relevant national legal provisions are interpreted in the light of the provisions of Article 41 of the Charter. All of which leads to an even greater impact of the EU law on national administrative law (even on public in general), as it so contributes to the incorporation of the Charter in the national systems of fundamental rights protection