Public Governance, Administration and Finances Law Review
About journal
Public Governance, Administration and Finances Law Review, founded in 2016, is a Central European journal with global coverage, publishing original research articles, proceedings, and book reviews on all facets of public administration, public policy, and public management both on Central and Eastern Europe and other parts of the world. The journal aims to promote critical legal thinking, legal practice, and scholarly debate by providing a forum for disseminating academic research findings on the fields of public law and public finance, and through its Open Access policy, it wishes to contribute to a greater global exchange of knowledge.
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Intergovernmental Relations and the Challenges of Power Devolution Federalism in Nepal
This study investigates the complexities and obstacles associated with intergovernmental relations (IGR) in Nepal’s emerging federal system. By conducting interviews with government officials and analysing key IGR mechanisms, the research identifies substantial obstacles to the effective cooperation, coordination and coexistence of federal, provincial and local governments. Some of the significant issues are a lack of genuine autonomy for subnational entities, fiscal imbalances, inactive dispute resolution bodies and an ambiguous division of responsibilities. The study uses a qualitative approach, analysing authority, resources and responsibilities in Nepal through 29 key informant interviews with government officials. It identifies themes related to coordination, power devolution and service delivery, and uses secondary sources to contextualise Nepal’s federal experiment within broader theoretical and comparative contexts. The study reveals that centralised control, political interference and ineffective institutions continue to hinder Nepal’s IGR framework, despite the constitutional provisions. The findings have significant implications for federal governance in Nepal, emphasising the necessity of overcoming structural obstacles, promoting genuine collaboration among government echelons, and empowering subnational entities. More broadly, the study contributes to the literature on federalism and IGR in developing democracies by illustrating the difficulties associated with translating constitutional principles into functional multi-level governance systems.
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" } ["familyName"]=> array(1) { ["en_US"]=> string(10) "Zafarullah" } ["givenName"]=> array(1) { ["en_US"]=> string(5) "Habib" } ["preferredPublicName"]=> array(1) { ["en_US"]=> string(0) "" } ["submissionLocale"]=> string(5) "en_US" } ["_hasLoadableAdapters"]=> bool(false) ["_metadataExtractionAdapters"]=> array(0) { } ["_extractionAdaptersLoaded"]=> bool(false) ["_metadataInjectionAdapters"]=> array(0) { } ["_injectionAdaptersLoaded"]=> bool(false) } } ["keywords"]=> array(1) { ["en_US"]=> array(5) { [0]=> string(12) "constitution" [1]=> string(33) "intergovernmental relations (IGR)" [2]=> string(10) "federalism" [3]=> string(16) "local government" [4]=> string(5) "Nepal" } } ["subjects"]=> array(0) { } ["disciplines"]=> array(0) { } ["languages"]=> array(0) { } ["supportingAgencies"]=> array(0) { } ["galleys"]=> array(1) { [0]=> object(ArticleGalley)#1063 (7) { ["_data"]=> array(9) { ["submissionFileId"]=> int(42546) ["id"]=> int(6565) ["isApproved"]=> bool(false) ["locale"]=> string(5) "en_US" ["label"]=> string(3) "PDF" ["publicationId"]=> int(8109) ["seq"]=> int(0) ["urlPath"]=> string(0) "" ["urlRemote"]=> string(0) "" } ["_hasLoadableAdapters"]=> bool(true) ["_metadataExtractionAdapters"]=> array(0) { } ["_extractionAdaptersLoaded"]=> bool(false) ["_metadataInjectionAdapters"]=> array(0) { } ["_injectionAdaptersLoaded"]=> bool(false) ["_submissionFile"]=> NULL } } } ["_hasLoadableAdapters"]=> bool(false) ["_metadataExtractionAdapters"]=> array(0) { } ["_extractionAdaptersLoaded"]=> bool(false) ["_metadataInjectionAdapters"]=> array(0) { } ["_injectionAdaptersLoaded"]=> bool(false) }REFORM OF LICENSING IN INDONESIA THE DILEMMA BETWEEN INVESTMENT FACILITATION, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, AND LEGAL CERTAINTY IN THE RISK-BASED APPROACH (RBA) SYSTEM
This study critically analyzes Indonesia's national licensing reform, pivoting governance to the Risk-Based Approach (RBA) via the Online Single Submission (OSS) system, governed by the Law on Job Creation (UUCK) and PP 5/2021. The reform aims to boost economic competitiveness by simplifying licensing, notably by integrating environmental permits into Environmental Approvals. This simplification sparks debate, as critics argue it weakens the preventive control of environmental law and compromises legal
certainty and ecosystem protection. The study finds that despite successfully streamlining formal procedures, OSS-RBA implementation is severely hampered by vertical and horizontal regulatory disharmony, a critical lack of data synchronization, and fundamental instability of the OSS digital infrastructure. The reform's long-term success is critically dependent on the competence of public administrators to exercise proper discretion when addressing high-risk activities. Therefore, the RBA framework requires continuous structural and institutional evaluation to ensure investment facilitation does not compromise legal certainty and environmental sustainability.
Current Issue
Published: 2025-06-27
ISSN 2498-6275 (print) ISSN 2786-0736 (online)