LAW ON GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES

PART ONE

GENERAL PROVISIONS

CHAPTER I

BASIC PRINCIPLES

Implementation of the Law

Article 1

(1) The administrative units and other public (government) units shall act pursuant to this Law in the administrative procedures, directly implementing the regulations and adopting decisions on the rights, obligations and legal interests of the individuals, legal entities or other parties.

(2) The enterprises, institutions and other organizations, funds and associations, public organizations, citizen associations and organizations shall act pursuant to this Law in exercising their public authorizations, entrusted to them by law and by legal decision of the municipality council or of the city of Skopje, for deciding on the issues mentioned in paragraph 1 above.

(3) The units of the local self-government and of the city of Skopje shall act pursuant to this Law in exercising their authorities as well as in exercising the authorities delegated to them by the Republic for deciding on the issues mentioned in paragraph 1 above.

Special Procedures

Article 2

Some issues of the procedure regarding certain administrative area may be, by special law, stipulated differently than they are stipulated by this law if this is necessary for proceeding in that administrative area.

Subsidiary Implementation of the Law

Article 3

The administrative areas for which there is special procedure stipulated by law, shall be governed by the provisions of that law. The provisions of this law shall apply for all issues that are not covered by a special law.

The Principle of Lawfulness

Article 4

(1) The units, enterprises, institutions, funds, associations, organizations and communities, as well as other institutions that are engaged in administrative issues shall adopt their decisions on the basis of the law, other regulations of the government units and on the basis of general rules and regulations of the organizations, funds and communities passed by them in accordance with their authorizations.

(2) If the units are authorized, by law or by rules based on the law, to adopt decisions regarding the administrative issues at their own discretion, then such decisions should be made within the limits of their authorizations and in accordance with the purpose of the authorization.

(3) The provisions of this law shall also be valid in cases when the unit is authorized to adopt decisions regarding the administrative issues at its own discretion.

Protection of Civil Rights and Public Interest

Article 5

(1) When administering a procedure and adopting a decision, the units shall be obligated to enable to the parties to protect and exercise their rights taking into account that such rights are not to the prejudice of the rights of other parties (persons) nor contrary to the public interests established by law.

(2) If the official, on the basis of the existing facts, finds or assesses that certain citizen or organization has a basis for exercising certain right, then the civil servant shall inform and help the citizen or organization.

(3) If certain obligations are imposed on the citizens by the law, then the measures that will be taken, pursuant to the regulations, shall be more favorable for the citizens, if the aim of the law is accomplished by such measures.

The Principle of Efficiency

Article 6

The units, enterprises, institutions, funds, associations and other organizations and communities involved in adopting decisions on administrative matters shall be obliged to provide efficient way for exercising the rights and interests of the citizens, enterprises, institutions and other organizations, funds and communities.

State of Affairs

Article 7

The actual situation shall be determined during the procedure. All relevant facts shall be investigated and determined in order to make legal and correct decision.

Hearing of the Parties

Article 8

(1) Prior to adopting any decision, the party shall have the right to state the facts and circumstances which are relevant for the decision.

(2) The decision may be adopted without prior hearing of the party only in cases stipulated by law.

Evaluation of the Evidence

Article 9

The authorized (official) person, at his own discretion, shall decide on the validity of the facts used as proof, on the basis of conscientious and careful evaluation of each evidence separately and of the aggregate evidence, as well as on the basis of the impact that such evidence will have on the outcome of the procedure.

Independent Adopting of Decisions

Article 10

(1) The unit shall administer the administrative procedure and adopt a decision independently, within the authorizations established by law, other regulations and by general rules and regulations.

(2) The authorized (official) person in the unit authorized for the procedure shall independently determine the facts and circumstances. On the basis of these facts and circumstances the authorized person shall implement the regulations, i.e. the general rules and regulations on a specific case.

The Right of Appeal

Article 11

(1) The party shall have the right to lodge an appeal against a first instance decision. It may be stipulated only by law that an appeal cannot be lodged against certain administrative procedures if the rights and lawfulness are stipulated otherwise.

(2) If there is no second instance administrative (appellate) unit, an appeal against a first instance decision may be lodged only in cases stipulated by law. Such law shall determine the unit that is authorized to adopt a decision regarding an appeal.

(3) According to the provisions of this law, the party shall have the right to lodge an appeal if the first instance unit does not adopt a decision within the term stipulated.

(4) An appeal cannot be lodged against a decision of the second (appellate) instance.

ALTERNATIVE

(5) The party may lodge a complaint and institute an administrative dispute against a decision made by the first instance unit without prior lodging of an appeal.

Validity of the Decision

Article 12

The decision against which no appeal can be lodged nor administrative dispute can be instituted (a legally valid decision), by which the party has attained certain rights, or by which certain obligations have been imposed on the party, can be annulled, abolished or amended only in cases stipulated by law.

Economy of the Procedures

Article 13

The procedures shall be administered efficiently in order to keep the expenses low and spare time for the party and the other persons that are involved in the procedure. However, all documents needed for correct determination of the facts of the case and for making a legal and correct decision shall be provided.

Assistance to Unschooled Parties

The unit that administers the procedure shall take care that the lack of schooling or knowledge of the party and other persons involved in the procedure shall not be to the disadvantage of the parties and their rights pertaining to them according to the law.

Usage of Language and Alphabet

Article 15

(1) The administrative procedure in the Republic of Macedonia shall be administered in the official Macedonian language.

(2) The citizens of the Republic of Macedonia, the minorities, shall have the right to use their own language in the administrative procedure.

The unit shall inform the party or other participants in the procedure on the usage of the language. It shall be entered into the records that the party i.e. the other participants have been informed on that right and the party’s statement regarding the information shall also be entered into the records.

(3) If the party or the other participants in the procedure are not citizen of the Republic of Macedonia and do not know the language of the procedure, they shall have the right to follow the course of the procedure through a translator.

ALTERNATIVE

(4) The alphabets of the other nationalities and minorities of the Republic of Macedonia shall be equally used in the administrative procedures.

Usage of the Term “Unit”

Article 16

The unit that administers and makes decisions in the administrative procedures shall include: administrative units, other government units, enterprises, institutions, other organizations, funds, communities, public organizations and associations of citizens and other organizations, unless otherwise established by this law.

CHAPTER II

AUTHORITY

1. Genuine and Local Jurisdiction

Article 17

(1) The genuine authority for making decisions in the administrative procedure shall be determined in accordance with the regulations established for the specific administrative area or the authority of certain units.

(2) The local authority shall be determined in accordance with the regulations on the political - territorial division and in accordance with the regulations on the organization of certain units.

Article 18

(1) The genuine authority for deciding in the first instance administrative matters shall be vested in the administrative units of the Republic of Macedonia or in their Regional Offices , if, by law, the authority is not vested in other units.

(2) On the basis of the authorizations established by law, the military units may have the authority, established by sub-legal regulation, to decide in the first instance administrative procedures.

Article 19

The appropriate administrative unit shall have the authority for the administrative issues, unless such authority is vested in some other unit.

Article 20

If no regulation exists for determining which administrative unit shall have the genuine authority to decide on certain administrative issue, and such authority cannot be determined according to the nature of the issue, then that issue shall be within the authority of the administrative unit authorized for general administrative issues.

Article 21

(1) A unit shall not have the right to take over certain administrative issue that is within the authority of another unit and make a decision independently, unless such possibility is established by law and in accordance with the conditions stipulated in that law.

(2) A unit authorized for deciding on certain administrative issues may delegate such authority to other unit only on the basis of adequate legal authorization.

(3) The genuine and local authority cannot interchange by agreement between the parties, by agreement between the units and the parties or by agreement between the units, unless otherwise stipulated by law.

Article 22

(1) In accordance with the provisions stated in Article 17, paragraph 2 herein, the local authority shall be determined:

1. on issues regarding real estate - according to the location of the real estate;

2. on issues regarding the activities of certain public agency, enterprise, institution, organization, fund or community - according to the place of their registered office. The authority over issues regarding the activities of the enterprises’ business units, institutions, organizations, funds and communities, shall be determined according to the registered office of the unit.

3. on issues regarding managing a shop or professional activities of certain persons that perform or will perform their activities on a specific location - according to the address of the shop or according to the office where the activity is performed;

4. on other issues - according to the residence of the party. In case of more than one parties, then the authority shall be determined according to the party involved. If the party has no permanent residence in the Republic of Macedonia, then the authority shall be determined according to the party’s temporary residence; otherwise, the authority shall be determined according to the last residence or temporary residence of the party in the Republic of Macedonia.

5. In case the local authority cannot be determined according to the provisions stated in items 1 to 4 in this Article, then the authority shall be determined according to the place where the reason for the procedure occurred.

(2) In case of issues regarding a ship or airplane or in case the reason for the procedure occurred on a ship or airplane, the local authority shall be determined according to the ship’s port of registry i.e. airplane’s port of registry.

(3) The provisions stated above shall be implemented unless otherwise stipulated by special regulations.

Article 23

(1) In case two or more units have simultaneous local authority on the issues stated above, then the unit that first started the procedure shall be authorized for administering the procedure. However, the units may agree which of them shall administer the procedure.

(2) Any locally authorized unit, in its region, shall perform those activities of the procedure that cannot be postponed.

Article 24

The unit that started administering the procedure as a locally authorized unit shall remain authorized even if certain circumstances appear, during the course of the procedure, that could change the place of authority for that procedure. The unit that administers the procedure may delegate the authority for such procedure to the other unit, if this significantly simplifies the procedure, especially for the party . Such unit, considering the circumstances, may have local authority.

Article 25

(1) Each of the units, in their line of duties, shall stay within the limits of their genuine and local authority during the course of the whole procedure.

(2) In case the unit determines that it is not authorized for certain administrative issues, then the unit shall act in accordance with the provision stated in Article 66 (62), paragraph 3 and 4 of this law.

(3) In case the unit that was not authorized for the procedure took some action regarding the procedure, the authorized unit to which the procedure was delegated to shall determine whether some of those actions should be repeated or not.

2. Parties having Diplomatic Immunity

Article 26

(1) Regarding the jurisdiction of the local authorities over procedures that involve foreign person having a right to diplomatic immunity in the Republic of Macedonia, a foreign country or international organization, the provisions of the international law that have been recognized by the Republic of Macedonia shall be valid.

(2) If there is any doubt regarding the existence or the scope of the right to immunity, then the administrative unit authorized on foreign affairs shall give its interpretation.

(3) The official acts that relate to persons having the right to immunity shall be performed by mediation of the administrative unit authorized on foreign affairs.

3. Regional Limits of the Jurisdiction

Article 27

(1) All units shall perform their official activities within the limits of their region.

(2) If a delay is likely to appear, and the official action should be taken out of the regional limits of the unit, then the unit may perform the action out of the limits of its region. The unit is obliged to inform the other unit authorized for that region where the action was performed.

(3) The official activities that have to be taken in buildings and other structures owned by the military units shall be performed with prior reporting to the commander of the building or the structure and by his consent.

(4) The official activities that have to be performed in a extra territorial region shall be performed by mediation of the administrative unit authorized for foreign affairs.

4. Conflict of Authority

Article 28

The republic administrative units shall settle the conflicts of authorities between the regional offices and organization units that have been established for performance of certain administrative matters within the authority of the republic administrative unit.

Article 29

The conflicts of authorities between two or more republic administrative units or between the administrative units and public organizations, and between the public organizations themselves shall be solved by the Government of the Republic of Macedonia.

Article 30

(1) In case two units declare themselves as authorized or unauthorized for deciding on the same administrative issue, then the proposal for settlement of the conflict of authorities shall be given by the unit that last decided on its authority, or the proposal may be given by the party (the plaintiff or the defendant).

(2) The unit that decides on the conflict of authorities shall, at the same time, cancel the decision made on the administrative issue by the unauthorized unit, or, shall cancel the resolution of the authorized unit by which it declared itself as unauthorized and submit the documents of the case to the authorized unit.

(3) No special appeal shall be lodged or no special administrative proceedings shall be taken by the party against the decision that settles the conflict of authorities.

(4) The provision of Article 23, paragraph 3 herein shall apply accordingly in case of conflict of authorities.

Article 31

(1) The unit in conflict shall have the right to lodge an appeal if it considers that some of its rights were violated by the decision regarding the conflict of authority.

(2) If the unit authorized for making a decision regarding the appeal stated in the pervious paragraph should find that the decision made on the conflict of authority was against the regulations, the unit shall settle the resulting relations between the complainant unit and the unit that was declared as authorized by the jurisdiction court, taking into account the rights pertaining to the complainant according to the regulations. The decision adopted regarding the appeal shall be considered as first instance decision.

(3) The appeal stated in paragraph 1 above and the decision adopted shall have no effect on the administrative procedure for the specific issue.

5. Official person authorized to administer the procedure and adopt decisions

Article 32

(1) The supervisor of the administrative unit authorized to decide on administrative issues shall adopt the decision regarding the administrative procedure, unless otherwise determined by the regulations of the unit or by other special regulations.

(2) The supervisor may authorize other official person in the same unit to decide on a specific kind of administrative issue.

(3) The authorization also covers the administering of the procedure prior to adopting the decision.

Article 33

(1) In case of managing boards, the decision shall be adopted by the managing board, unless it is determined by law or by a decision of the municipality or the City of Skopje that the president of the managing board shall adopt the decision in the administrative procedure.

(2) The managing board, pursuant to law, or regulation based on law, or a decision of the municipality or the City of Skopje, may authorize an official person in the same unit to adopt decisions in the administrative procedures.

Article 34

(1) If the administrative issue falls within the jurisdiction of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia or the Municipality Council i.e. the City of Skopje, or the Government of the Republic of Macedonia or the executive board the local units, then the procedure shall be administered by the administrative unit authorized for the issue, unless it is determined by a regulation that another unit should administer the procedure.. The provision of Article 36, paragraph 2 of this law shall refer to such unit.

(2) In the case described in the previous paragraph, the unit i.e. the official person that administered the procedure shall submit a written report and a proposal for decision to the authorized unit, unless it is determined by other regulations that such report shall be submitted by a committee or other administrative unit.

(3) The provisions given in the previous paragraph shall apply to the decisions adopted by units of second instance.

Article 35

For the administrative issues that are in the authority of an enterprise, institution, fund or other organization or community, the decision shall be adopted by the appropriate unit, i.e. the person that has the appropriate office, unless other unit or person is determined to decide on such issues within the organization or the community in accordance with the law or by other regulation based on law, i.e. by the general rules and regulations of that organization or the community.

Article 36

(1) The supervisor of the unit may authorize other expert official person within the unit to undertake activities in the procedure prior to adopting the decision.

(2) If such authorization has no limitations, the specified official person shall have the authority to perform all activities in the procedure, except adopting decisions or resolutions that would prevent further administering of the procedure.

6. Legal Assistance

Article 37

(1) In case the administrative unit has to perform certain activities in the procedure out of its region of authority, then the unit shall ask the administrative unit where such activities have to be performed to execute such activities.

(2) For the purpose of easier and efficient performance of the activities or in order to avoid unnecessary expenses, the unit authorized to make decisions on administrative issues may assign the performance of certain activities in the procedure to other appropriate unit authorized for such activities.

Article 38

(1) The administrative units, as well as the enterprises, institutions, other organizations, funds and communities, public organizations and associations of citizens that have public authorization to make decisions on administrative issues, shall be obliged to provide to each other legal assistance in the administrative procedures. They shall ask for assistance by submitting a request.

(2) The unit that was asked for assistance, as well as the organization in paragraph 1 of this Article, shall be obliged to act according to the request within the limits of their region and scope of their duties, without delay, latest by 30 days from the receipt of the request.

(3) Legal assistance for performance of certain activities in the procedure may be asked by the courts, but only within the frames of special regulations. As an exception, the administrative unit, as well as an organization that has public authorization to make decisions on administrative issues may ask the courts to provide them with the documents required for administering the procedure. The courts shall be obliged to act in accordance with such request if it does not prevent the court proceedings. The court may determine the term in which such documents have to returned.

(4) If legal assistance has to be asked from foreign agencies, then the provisions of the international agreements shall be valid. In case of no specific provisions in this regard, the principle of reciprocity shall be valid. If the principle of reciprocity is questioned, then the administrative unit authorized for foreign affairs shall provide an explanation. In such case, the authorized unit shall ask for an explanation through the appropriate administrative unit authorized for judiciary issues.

(5) The local agencies shall provide legal assistance to foreign agencies in the way stipulated by the local law. The agency shall have the right not to give any legal assistance if the required activity is contrary to the public order. The requested activity may be performed according to the instructions of the foreign agency, if such procedure is not contrary to the public order.

(6) In case the international agreements do not stipulate direct contact with the foreign agencies, the administrative units shall communicate with the foreign agencies through the administrative unit authorized for foreign affairs.

7. Exemptions

Article 39

The official person authorized to adopt decisions or to perform certain activities in the procedure shall be exempted from the activities of the procedure if:

(1) the official person is involved in the procedure in the capacity of a party, co-authorized person, witness, legal assessor, or legal counsel of the party;

(2) the official person is immediate family with the party, the legal counsel or the authorized person , or related up to and including the fourth cousin, or married or related by marriage, up to and including the second cousin, even if the marriage was annulled;

(3) the official person is a guardian, related by adoption or supporter of the party, the legal counsel or the party’s authorized person;

(4) in the first instance procedure the official person participated in the administering of the procedure or in the adoption of the decision.

Article 40

In case the official person that should decide on certain administrative issue or take action pursuant to the procedure determines that there is a reason for exemption stated in the provisions of Article 39 herein, the official person is obligated to stop any further activities regarding the specific case and advise the agency authorized to decide on the exemption. If the official person considers that there are other circumstances that justify his/hers exemption, then he/she shall advise the same agency not interrupting the procedure.

Article 41

(1) The party may require exemption of the official person for reasons stated in Article 39 in this law, or when there are other circumstances that question his/hers impartiality. In the request, the party must state the circumstances that justify the reason for the exemption.

(2) The official person for whom there is a request for exemption submitted by the party for reasons stated in Article 42 (39) in this law, shall not perform any activities regarding the procedure, except those that cannot be delayed, until the final resolution is adopted regarding the request.

Article 42

(1) The supervisor of the administrative agency shall decide on the exemption of the official person.

(2) The Government of the Republic of Macedonia shall decide on the exemption of a manager (supervisor) of an administrative agency.

(3) A unit nominated by a Republic regulation shall decide on the exemption of an official person or high official (manager) that manages the administrative unit.

(4) The president of the republic managing board shall decide on the exemption of an official person from the managing board. The republic managing board shall decide on the exemption of a member of the managing board and the Government of the Republic of Macedonia shall decide on exemption of the president of the republic managing board.

(5) The decision for an exemption of an official person in the unit of local self-government in the municipalities of the City of Skopje shall be made by the unit nominated in accordance with the municipality’s decision i.e. the City of Skopje.

(6) A final resolution shall be adopted regarding an exemption.

Article 44

(1) The provisions of this law referring to the exemptions shall equally apply to the recording person.

(2) The final resolution on exemption of the recording person shall be adopted by the official person that administers the procedure.

CHAPTER III

THE PARTY AND LEGAL COUNSEL OF THE PARTY

1. Party

Article 45

A party is a person that requires administering of a procedure or a person against who a procedure is being administered, or who has the right to participate in a procedure in order to protect his/her rights or interests.

Article 46

(1) Any person or legal entity may be a party in an administrative procedure.

(2) Any public unit, business unit in an organization and community, settlement, group of persons and other which are not considered as legal entities may be a party if they can be considered as bearers of the rights and liabilities that are subject of the administrative procedure.

(3) A union organization may be a party if the administrative procedure refers to a right or legal interest of the employees in the enterprises (companies), institutions, other organizations and units.

Article 47

(1) Any enterprise (company), institution, organization and unit, public organization and association of the citizens that, pursuant to their rules and regulations, have an obligation to protect certain rights and interests of their members, may, by consent of its member, submit a request on his/her behalf regarding such rights and interests, or they may be involved in the already initiated procedure bearing all the rights of the party.

(2) The enterprise (company), institution, other organization and unit may represent the employee on his/hers request if their rules and regulations stipulate that possibility.

Article 48

(1) If the public prosecutor, the public attorney and other public agencies are authorized by law to represent the public interests in the administrative procedure then they, within the limits of their authorizations, shall have the rights and liabilities of a party.

(2) The agencies stated in paragraph 1 above shall not have wider authorizations than those of the parties, unless such authorizations are stipulated by law.

2. Legal Capacity and Legal Counsel

Article 49

(1) Any party that has full working abilities may perform all activities in the procedure (legal capacity).

(2) Any person that has no legal capacity shall be represented by a legal counsel who will perform all activities during the procedure. The legal counsel shall be determined pursuant to a law or an appropriate deed of the authorized government unit enacted on the basis of a law.

(3) Any legal entity shall perform the activities in the procedure through its representative i.e. legal counsel. The representative i.e. the legal counsel of the legal entity shall be determined on the basis of a general rules and regulations, unless otherwise determined by law or by rules and regulations of the authorized government unit based on a law.

(4) Any government unit shall perform the activities in the procedure through the representative determined by law, and any unit of an organization or community - through the person that manages the unit. Any settlement or groups of persons that have no capacity of a legal person shall perform the activities in the procedure through a person that they will determine, unless otherwise determined by special regulations.

(5) In case the unit that administers the procedure finds that the legal counsel of a person under custody (guardianship) does not give the due attention to the representation, the unit shall inform the guardianship unit.

Article 50

(1) During the course of the whole procedure, the unit shall have an official duty to monitor whether the person that appears as a party has a legal capacity of a party and whether the party has a legal counsel.

(2) In case of death of the party during the course of the procedure, the procedure may be stopped or continued, depending on the nature of the administrative issue that is subject of the procedure. If the nature of the procedure does not allow continuation, the unit shall stop the procedure bringing a final resolution. A special appeal may be lodged against such resolution.

3. Temporary Legal Counsel

Article 51

(1) In case the party has no legal capacity and no legal counsel, or in case an action has to be taken against a person whose residence is unknown and has no legal representative, the unit that administers the procedure shall appoint a temporary legal counsel if the case is urgent and the procedure must be administered. The unit shall immediately inform the guardianship unit of the appointment of a temporary legal counsel. In case of a person whose residence is unknown, the final resolution shall be made known in the usual way.

(2) In case an organization or a community has no legal counsel, representative or authorized person, the unit that administers the procedure shall appoint a legal counsel to such party, under the conditions stated in paragraph 1 above. Generally, the legal counsel shall be chosen among the officials in the organization or community and shall advise the organization or the community of the appointment without delay.

(3) The same mode of appointment stated in paragraphs 1 and 2 above, shall be applied in case of urgent action that has to be performed, and the party i.e. its legal representative or legal counsel cannot be summoned on time. The party, the representative or the legal counsel shall be informed of such case immediately.

(4) The appointed person is obliged to accept the representation. Such representation may be denied only in cases stipulated by special rules. The temporary counsel shall participate only in the procedure for which he/she was explicitly appointed, and only until the appearance of the legal counsel or representative or the party itself or its representative.

4. Joint Representative

Article 52

(1) Two or more parties may appear jointly in the same case, unless otherwise stipulated by special rule. In such case, they are obliged to designate who of the either shall act as joint representative, or they should appoint a joint representative.

(2) The unit that administers the procedure may, unless prohibited by special rule, bring a resolution by which the parties that participate in the procedure and have the same requests shall be obliged to designate, within a determined term, who among them will represent them, or to appoint a joint representative. If the parties do not act accordingly, the representative may be appointed by the unit that administers the procedure. In such case, the joint representative or authorized person shall have that capacity until the parties appoint their own representative. The parties shall have the right to lodge an appeal against the resolution of the unit, however, the appeal shall not exclude the enforcement.

(3) Even in the case of appointing a joint representative i.e. authorized person, each party shall have the right to act as a party in the procedure, to give statements and independently lodge appeals or use other legal remedies.

5. Authorized person

Article 53

(1) The party or its legal counsel may appoint an authorized person who shall act as representative in the procedure, except in cases when it is necessary the party itself to give statements.

(2) The actions in the procedure that are taken by the authorized person, within the limits of the authorization, shall have the same effect as if taken by the party itself.

(3) Besides the authorized person, the party itself shall have the right to give statements, especially in cases when the party has to give a direct statement.

(4) In cases when the party is not present while its authorized person gives an verbal statement, the party has the right, immediately upon the given statement, to change or cancel the statement given by the authorized person. If there is a discrepancy in the facts of the written or verbal statements given by the party and its authorized person, the unit that administers the procedure shall assess both statements pursuant to the provisions in Article 9 in this Law.

Article 54

(1) Any person that has full working abilities can be an authorized person, except persons that are pretending to be experts.

(2) In case it is determined that the authorized person is pretending to be expert, the government unit shall deprive him/her of any further representation and inform the party thereof immediately.

(3) An appeal can be lodged against the resolution to deprive the person of further representation. Such appeal shall not postpone the enforcement of the resolution.

Article 55

(1) The authorization may be written or verbal. The verbal authorization shall be entered into a register. It shall be entered into the case file that the authorization is verbal.

(2) An illiterate party or a party that is not able to sign, shall put an index fingerprint on the written authorization instead of a signature. If the authorization is given to a person that is not an authorized person, then the authorization shall be given in the presence of two witnesses that will sign the authorization.

(3) In exceptional cases, the official that administers the procedure or performs certain activities during the procedure may allow the members of the party’s family or household, persons that work together with the party or officials, to perform certain activities on behalf of the party even without authorization, if those persons are well known and there is no doubt of the existence and scope of the authorization. In case such person requests administering a procedure or if during the procedure such person gives a statement that is contrary to the previously given statement, then he/she shall be asked to present a document for authorization in a due term.

Article 56

(1) If the authorization was given in a form of a private document and there is a doubt of its authenticity, then it shall be required such authorization be validated.

(2) The validity of an authorization shall be investigated ex officio. Any faults of the written authorization shall be removed in accordance with the provisions of Article 64 in this Law. The official that administers the procedure may allow the authorized person with the invalid authorization to perform the urgent activities in the procedure.

Article 57

(1) The provisions of the authorization determine its contents and scope. The authorization may be valid for the whole procedure or only for separate activities and it may be limited in time.

(2) The authorization shall be still valid even in case of death of the party, loosing its legal capacity or change of its legal counsel. However, the party’s legal successor i.e. its new legal counsel may annul the previous authorization.

(3) The issues regarding the authorization that are not covered by the provisions of this law, shall be governed pursuant to the provisions of the Law on Civil Procedure.

Article 58

The provisions of this law that refer to the parties shall be accordingly valid for their legal counsel, authorized persons, temporary representatives and joint representatives.

Article 59

(1) The party shall be allowed to bring an expert (expert assistant) who will give information and advice regarding expert issues in the procedure. Such person does not represent the party.

(2) The party shall not bring an expert assistant who has no working capabilities or who is pretending to be expert.

CHAPTER IV

COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE UNITS AND THE PARTIES

1. Documents

Article 60

(1) Documents shall mean requests, forms used for automatic data processing, proposals, notifications, applications, appeals, complaints and other information that the individuals or legal entities i.e. organizations submit to the units.

(2) Generally, the documents shall be submitted directly or sent by mail in a written form, or verbally presented and entered into a register. Unless otherwise stipulated, the documents may be submitted by cable. Brief and urgent information may be given by phone, if the nature of the work allows that.

Article 61

The document shall be submitted each working day during the working hours to the unit authorized to receive such document. The verbal documents that have no time limit or are not urgent may be given in previously determined hours during the working hours. The time determined for such verbal documents shall be announced by each unit on a clearly visible spot in the unit’s premises.

Article 62