Integrity and Transparency in the Work of Public Authorities. Aspects of Comparative Public Law

Nowadays, there are changes in citizens' perception of public sector activity. In this respect, a new paradigm seems to be emerging in public life, namely that the work of people serving the state apparatus is assessed through a threefold perspective, based on interdisciplinarity: legality-ethics-morality. The scope of the study is to analyze transparency in public administration, starting from Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The study aims to document the issue of transparency in the work of state activity, using the lens of several authorities such as the French High Authority for Transparency in Public Life, the National Transparency Authority of Greece, the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life of Malta and the Chief Official Ethics Commission of Lithuania. The main findings highlight that states have been concerned to establish an institution, whatever its name, with a role in ensuring transparency in public administration and fighting corruption. The composition of the work proposes a structure consisting of two main directions, national law and international law, and by means of research methods specific to law, it will highlight the idea that access to information is a human right, enshrined in law. The research contributes to the understanding of the topic from a comparative law perspective, by being aware on how legislators in different legal systems approach integrity and transparency in public administration. The analysis shows that lack of transparency can lead to maladministration. The results underline that states have put in place mechanisms to increase trust in state authorities by means of legislation and specially created authorities.