This book attempts for the first time to engage in a comparative assessment
of the different models employed in order to tackle the administrative
silence in administrative law. The comparative work will be the first on
this theme to tackle both the legal aspects and some empirical evidences
of how the legal institution works in practice.
Administrative silence occurs when administrative authority does not
reply to an application in the legally prescribed time or does not take
action when such action is legally prescribed. The legal fiction may be
negative or positive. Negative fiction means that the law considers the
silence as tacit rejection of the application and the interested parties have
the possibility of a legal challenge in administrative or judicial venues.
In the second instance, positive fiction, the presumption is that the
silence means approval (the silent consent procedure or tacit agreement).
The application is considered approved and the applicant can perform
an activity. No legal system is exclusively working with just one of the
legal assumptions. Both negative and positive assumptions are used, with
different legal consequences.