Amendment to the General Administrative Procedure Act to enable more efficient and faster administrative procedures

23. 10. 2025

Ministry of Public Administration

Following the suspensive veto by the National Council, deputies of the National Assembly reconfirmed the amendment to the General Administrative Procedure Act today. The amendment will allow administrative procedures to be managed more efficiently, resulting in a faster transition from the start of a procedure to the final decision. The Act will enter into force three months after its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

The Act Amending the General Administrative Procedure Act (ZUP-I) optimises procedural rules, reduces the administrative burden on both authorities and citizens, and increases the scope of electronic communication. In this way, the ZUP-I is being adapted to the modern way of life by establishing the legal basis for broader use of electronic communication and process automation. As a result, administrative procedures will be handled more efficiently and become more user-friendly, while reducing the workload of administrative authority employees and enabling them to devote more time to substantive decision-making. The ZUP-I is a step towards the streamlining of public administration operations with benefits for citizens and businesses alike.

"The amendment aims to establish the legal foundations that allow administrative authorities to conduct procedures more efficiently and swiftly. As a result, citizens will receive administrative decisions more quickly, and the authorities will be able to optimise their operations." – Franc Props, Minister of Public Administration.

As the Minister of Public Administration, Franc Props, repeatedly emphasised during the legislative process, these are not merely superficial adjustments after many years, but rather major substantive amendments to the Act, responding to real societal and technological needs and following years of warnings from citizens, and, above all, from the business sector regarding excessive administrative burdens.

"The proposed Act is well considered and provides forward-looking solutions. It will make administrative procedures more efficient and adapt them to the needs of modern society, technology and the rule of law." – Franc Props, Minister of Public Administration.

In Slovenia, over ten million administrative decisions are issued every year. The General Administrative Procedure Act is therefore a law that almost every citizen is likely to encounter at some point in their life, as it regulates the fundamental procedural relationships between administrative bodies, municipalities, and public authority holders on the one hand, and the citizens on the other.

Great care was taken during the drafting process to ensure that the amendment did not interfere with the fundamental principles of administrative procedure, with each amendment being carefully considered in relation to citizens' rights. The amendment is comparable to the best administrative practices in other EU Member States. Following modern trends in digitalisation and simplification, it makes administrative procedures more efficient while maintaining a high level of legal certainty and procedural guarantees.

Key Changes introduced by the Amendment to the General Administrative Procedure Act

Mandatory electronic service in a secure electronic mailbox for business entities;
Amendments concerning the service of documents in physical form;
The possibility of automatically issuing certificates from official records;
Increased accessibility for electronic business operations;
Possibility of issuing a decision without a statement of reasons;
The possibility of oral procedures via videoconference;
A new feature: preparatory–consultative hearing.

*Note – Full news items are available in Slovenian.