Digitalni dijalog s parlamentom – primjena informacijsko-komunikacijske tehnologije u kontekstu participacije građana u zakonodavnome postupku
Digital dialogue with the parliament – The application of information-communication technology in the context of citizen participation in the legislative process

Summary/Abstract: Since the rise of information-communication technology (ict) opened the door to a more intense participation of citizens in decision-making processes, based on greater accessibility, openness, transparency, flexibility and interdisciplinarity, which includes contributions from areas such as law, political sciences, economics and information-communication sciences, its implementation in the parliamentary context resulted in the formation of a new concept of parliament, the electronic or e-parliament. It is a concept focused on the use of ict as a key tool for transforming basic functions of the parliament, timeliness in decision-making, openness, transparency and cost reduction, providing citizens with opportunities for digital dialogue with the parliament in order to influence their legislation and other regulations. Having this in mind, this paper examines, firstly, how the possibility of applying ict for the purpose of citizen participation in the legislative process is regulated in Croatian parliamentary law; secondly, in which legally regulated instruments of citizen participation in the law-making process, as one of the fundamental functions of parliaments, ict makes exclusive, and in which just one of the possible ways of their implementation. Based on relevant literature, legal framework, and publicly available information on the Croatian Parliament's website, it has been determined that Croatian parliamentary law generally provides the possibility of applying ict for the participation of citizens in the legislative process, but there are some differences with regard to the explicit, i.e., their implicit regulation as well as instruments to which it relates. Furthermore, it has been determined that for the right to petition, information and involvement in working groups and parliamentary working bodies, ict emerges as one of the possible ways, and for the right to consultation as the only, exclusive way of their realization.

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