Concept and Principles
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ensuring closer coordination of economic policies and sustained convergence of economic performances of states, while at the same time ensuring a high level of transparency, credibility, and democratic accountability. Good governance is about the quality of the governance by those institutions which act in the public interest. But the question is: where can we find the concrete norms of good governance within the legal framework of states? We find these in the constitution or in the laws as developed by the legislator. An example is section 21 of the Finnish Constitution: Provisions concerning the publicity of proceedings, the right to be heard, the right to receive a reasoned decision and the right of appeal, as well as the other guarantees of a fair trial and good governance shall be laid down by an Act.
And section 124, which states that ‘by delegating administrative powers to others than public authorities, the guarantees of good governance should not be endangered’. But these norms can also be found in administrative regulations, for example in the Netherlands’ Code for Good Public Governance. Another example can be found in the judiciary’s case law, like the decision of the International Court of Human Rights: in examining the conformity of a particular situation with the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights, the Court reiterates the particular importance of the principle of good governance. In these examples, we recognize the two ways in which the principles have been developed; we speak in this context about the ‘two sides of the same coin of good governance’: the norm of good governance is both a rule for the administration, as well as for protecting the citizens. According to each institution’s role and position there will be different specifications of the concept of good governance.
2. Concept and Principles of Good Governance and Integrity The following three subjects are relevant in understanding the scope of good governance in practice (pertaining to the specification of this concept): the difference between good governance and good administration, the relation between good governance and integrity, and the concept and the specification by principles of good governance. The administration is in essence only one of the three (or four) powers in the state (the executive power), and its principles of good administration are only those related to the executive powers. In a narrow sense (as used here), good governance is the situation in which one of the three (or four) powers makes a decision in relation to the activities of the administration. Good governance and integrity have interrelated elements and partly overlap. Integrity has both a legal and a moral component and is focused (among others) on the actions and behaviour of the civil servants, the public authorities, or even the organization of these authorities. As such, integrity includes the following principles of good governance: properness, accountability, transparency, and sometimes human rights. But good governance is much wider, as it includes the principles of citizen participation and scrutiny, and also focuses on the human rights aspects of the conduct of state bodies and employees. In most of the country reports, attention has been given to the implementation of strategies for fighting and preventing corruption, particularly in relation to promoting integrity and good governance. We distinguish between a narrow and a broad view on integrity. In the narrow view, the focus is only on corruption,
