The "rule of law” (RoL) is a traditional principle, aimed at limiting the power of the state, administrative institutions and officials toward citizens and other subjects and at ensuring that authoritative decisions are legally based and generally sound. It frames public policy design and the rulemaking (regulatory level), individual administrative proceedings and implementation of authoritative decisions and legislation, as well as any other administrative actions (implementation level). Known in various legacies, from Aristotle’s recitals and the Middle Ages theory (Dicey) to the 19th century German Rechtsstaat or French Etat de Droit, the principle has evolved over time. Nowadays it represents a set of complementary (sub)principles and guarantees, such as proprietor rights, access to information, right to be heard and participate in public matters, judicial review, anti-corruption, etc. The RoL is a "supra” principle of good administration and sound public governance. The RoL in administrative relations is also one of the salient elements of the ongoing transitional development in CEEs. Moreover, it reflects a significant Europeanisation effect. However, the RoL is to be addressed in legal as well as political, economic and managerial, and other aspects.

This WG group at the NISPAcee 2023 Conference welcomes papers exploring specific sub-elements of the RoL in the NISPAcee region based on national case studies or in the comparative dimension of CEE and other countries in Europe/globally. Particularly, research papers addressing whether and how the current societal trends contribute to the strengthening or deterioration of the RoL will be appreciated.

The key topics to be addressed in 2023 – but are not restricted to – are the following:

1. Digital transformation of public governance, especially in law-making (regulatory process) and administrative procedures, among others, exploring a trade-off of fundamental citizens guarantees and their participation vs. administrative efficiency and artificial intelligence usage.

2. Separation of powers (legislative, executive, judicial, as well as regulatory agencies et similia) in the contemporary environment (e.g. trends regarding various crisis-related circumstances).

3. Relation between the EU and national law and institutions in public law affairs and public administration reforms.

The requirements for the contributions:

Both theoretical and empirical papers focusing on national case studies or comparative work are welcome. The papers can be grounded in various disciplines, from law, public policy/political science, technology, and economics, to interdisciplinary manuscripts. Abstracts/applications should include (i) the selected topic (1–3 or other), (ii) indication of the research problem, (iii) methodology, (iv) expected findings as well as (v) academic and/or practical contribution of the paper, i.e. its originality and significance for the RoL in public administration/governance in the NISPAcee region.

Note: the authors of accepted applications should submit their full papers by April 10, 2023 to be included in the final programme.

The high-quality full papers will be considered for publishing in the NISPAcee journal.

From participants of this working group full paper is required before the conference.
Deadline of full paper submission is April 10, 2023.

You can find manuscript guidelines on THIS LINK.