Croatian and Comparative Public Administration

Foreword

Vedran Đulabić — 2025-01-10

Croatian Jurisprudence and Repopulation: Parents Educators v. the City of Zagreb

Ivan Padjen — 2025-01-10

The practical problem of this study is the adverse impact
of the jurisprudence of the Higher Administrative Court
(HAC) and the Constitutional Court of the Republic of
Croatia (CCRC) on the termination of social benefits for
parents educators, i.e., parents rearing several children, by
the City of Zagreb. The study identifies the constitutional
and/or jus cogens provisions in accord with the postulated
values; describes the decisions on parents educators and
appraises the decisions as tending towards, against, or past
the constitutional and/or jus cogens principles; explains the
decisions; forecasts probable future decisions, and proposes
alternative decisions that are more in conformity with
the constitutional and/or jus cogens principles.

Comparative Analysis of Administrative Liability for Driving While Intoxicated in the Commonwealth of Independent States

Assel Karipova — 2025-01-10

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of administrative legislation in
Kazakhstan and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries,
with a focus on administrative liability, particularly for driving under the influence
of alcohol. The study aims to highlight the similarities and differences in
the administrative rules of the CIS countries and how these rules have evolved
since their common history under Soviet law. The authors use a range of scientific
research methods, including comparative analysis, synthesis and deduction,
to examine the legal framework for administrative offences in these countries.
The research focuses on the differences in the legal treatment of driving under
the influence in different CIS countries, comparing sanctions such as fines, administrative
detention, and suspension of driving privileges. Kazakhstan’s Administrative
Code is singled out for its extensive description of aggravating circumstances
and stricter penalties. The paper identifies areas for improvement in
Kazakhstan’s administrative legislation, drawing in particular on the practices
of Belarus and Armenia in dealing with drunk-driving. The authors argue that
modernising Kazakhstan’s administrative law and moving away from Soviet-era
provisions is essential to better regulate social relations and maintain road safety.
The analysis concludes by advocating a shift towards the incorporation of
European administrative law principles to improve the efficiency and fairness
of administrative liability frameworks in Kazakhstan and the wider CIS region.

Engagement with the EU by the Local and Regional Authorities from South east Europe

Jasmina Džinić — 2025-01-10

This is the first and at present only study on the direct engagement with the EU by the local and regional authorities from Southeast Europe. Its purpose is explaining why and how these authorities engage directly with the EU. This knowledge is crucial to understand the governance of this region which is one of the most important for the future enlargement of the EU and which is key to peace and stability in Europe. The research was conducted through semi-structured interviews of officials from associations of local and regional authorities from Southeast Europe and other relevant actors (Network of Associations of Local Authorities from South-East Europe, Committee of the Regions, EU Commission). This article also innovates multi-level governance theory, traditionally mostly limited to the analysis of sub-national authorities from longstanding EU member states.

Razmatranje faktora koji utječu na relevantnost strategija nacionalne sigurnosti i obrane

Drazen Smiljanic — 2025-01-10

A series of risks can render the entire strategy irrelevant, even if the strategic management process has been implemented successfully. This is because each stage in the strategy's life cycle is subject to specific vulnerabilities and distractions. These risks show an increasing trend, especially taking into account the complexity of the environment and the occurrence of "strategic shocks", as a result of the difficulty in realistically anticipating challenges and threats.

We analyzed the factors that can negatively affect the "success" of the strategy, including cultural and methodological aspects of the approach to strategy development. The conclusion suggests the need to develop strategies, despite the risks that affect its relevance, but also the necessity of introducing "shock absorbers", which will ensure the flexibility and thus the "survivability" of the strategy

The Role of Collaboration in Supporting Community Resilience Programs in Post-Disaster Events

Oscar Radyan Danar — 2025-01-10

The impact of collaboration on the community resilience program for residents
of Lumajang Regency varies. For the variable “Strengthening local knowledge”,
collaboration is preferable since it allows different communities to cooperate in
gathering local information from different perspectives. According to our research,
if local knowledge is not strengthened through collaboration, it will actually
have the reverse effect—that is, it will not have an impact on catastrophe
risk reduction. This is due to the community’s still limited and underutilized
participation in government programs for monitoring and communicating the
catastrophe response. Different findings were made for the community network
and relationship variables, where the influence of relationships within the community
network on disaster risk reduction is still non-significant, whether directly
or indirectly through cooperative mediation. Because LR is preparing for disaster
risk management, community relations or engagement with the authorities
regarding the necessity of disaster risk management have not yet been involved.
The location, interaction, traits, and interests should all be taken into consideration
when forming the community. In fact, LR residents have not yet put
this into practice. The findings are similarly important when considering how
different variables, either directly or through the collaboration variable, influence
leadership, governance, and health. Therefore, disaster risk reduction may
be impacted directly or indirectly by the presence of emergency response health
services, the creation of disaster-resilient villages, and the creation of a profile
of disaster-prone locations. But according to the data above, collaboration can
actually have a bigger impact on disaster risk reduction.

The COVID-19 Crisis and State Administration Authorities: A Systematic Review of National Regulatory Measures Adopted in Czechia

Pavel Horák — 2025-01-10

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most countries passed new laws. However, even today, the available literature concentrates mainly on restrictive and coercive measures that impact society as a whole. Specifically, it focuses on the impact of legislation during the COVID-19 period on democracy, parliamentarism or governance, or on measures to support the economy or vulnerable groups and the impact on public budgets. It pays less attention to changes expected in public administration by laws adopted during the COVID-19 period. In this paper, we present findings of a systematic review of national laws adopted in Czechia in response to the pandemic. We conducted a systematic review to explore the changes these laws are expected to cause for state administration authorities and present the main findings.