Town planning/Administrative decisions: Silence means consent
Fatima Zahra Mansouri and Abdelouafi Laftit recently published a joint order in the Official Gazette. This decree aims to set the deadlines required for each participant at the level of certain administrative decisions relating to town planning and issued by the municipalities. The silence of the administration means consent after the expiry of the deadlines set for their delivery. If this mechanism is implemented, it will allow citizens to conduct business in the best conditions and as quickly as possible, which simplifies procedures and brings citizens closer to public services, which is one of the royal recommendations. This piece of legislation is part of the implementation of the royal will to place citizens at the heart of public policies, through the removal of administrative and regulatory barriers and through the improvement of the business climate and governance. The area targeted and which is the subject of public criticism concerns the granting of authorizations.
This order is also part of the efforts made by the two ministries to adapt the regulatory framework governing town planning authorizations to the provisions of the law relating to the simplification of procedures and administrative formalities. The law had set a deadline of 30 days for the processing and issuance of the administrative acts necessary for the realization of investment projects. The system that was established stipulated that the deadlines required for each participant for certain administrative acts issued by the local authorities or their groupings are established by joint decrees.
In this issue which affects citizens, Abdelouafi Laftit wants to save time. Less than a week after the signing of this joint decree, the Minister of the Interior sent a circular to the walis and governors which determines the practical arrangements for the implementation of this new system under the best conditions. The subject of the circular relates to the activation of the principle of silence of the administration which is considered as approval. The deadlines that have been set relate to administrative decisions rendered by municipalities or districts. This also concerns the administrative decisions issued by the municipalities and the provinces, which constitutes a quantum leap in the administration’s relations with users and the procedures linked to the issuance of administrative decisions.
A decree published in the Official Gazette on May 11 made it possible to establish a list of administrative decisions for which the principle of agreement applies in the face of silence of local authorities and their groupings for applications for which the time limit has expired. The legislation also specified the model of attestation to be used to confirm the silence of the administration, which document is established by the Wali or the Governor after the refusal to issue decisions.
Mohamed CHAOUI
