Control over administration in the context of europeization: independent control bodies in Croatia as guardians of integrity

Specifična grupa institucija koje kontroliraju upravu – neovisna kontrolna tijela (NKT) – djeluju kao produžena ruka zakonodavca, a time i građana, u nadzoru nad javnom upravom i nositeljima političke vlasti. Uz neovisnu poziciju u institucionalnom pejzažu, njihova je posebnost u tome da im zakonodavac daje određene kontrolne ovlasti nad subjektima nadzora, a u osnovi svog postupanja imaju načelo transparentnosti koje omogućuje građanima informiranje o rezultatima njihova rada. One su dio suvremenog institucionalnog razvoja demokratskih država, pa tako i Hrvatske, koja je u procesu pristupanja Europskoj uniji i sama uspostavila ili unaprijedila NKT kako bi osigurala kontrolu nad upravom i ojačala suzbijanje korupcije. Analiza četiriju NKT-a – Državnog ureda za reviziju, Državne komisije za kontrolu postupaka javne nabave, Povjerenstva za odlučivanje o sukobu interesa te Povjerenika za informiranje, pokazuje da su neovisna i odgovorna, ali da među njima postoje razlike u institucionalnom dizajnu s obzirom na vrijeme i kontekst u kojem su nastala.The independent control of bodies or ICB (NKT) which is a specific group of institutions controlling administration, act like an extension of the legislator and citizen in the supervision of public administration and bearers of political powers. Together with their independent position in the institutional landscape, their peculiarity lies in the legislator giving them certain control powers over subjects of supervision. At the foundation of their activity is the principle of transparency which gives citizens information on the results of their work. They are part of the modern institutional development of democratic states including Croatia, which during the process of entering the European Union independently established or improved ICB (NKT) to ensure control over administration and strengthened combatting corruption. Analysis of the four ICBs (NKT) – the Government Audit Office, State Commissions for controlling public procurement procedures, Boards for deciding on conflict of interest and Commissioners for informing show that they are independent and accountable. However, among them differences exist in institutional design given the time and context in which they came about