Following the introduction of this principle into the legal order 1 June 2017, It should be weighed how this principle is respected by the authorities and administrative courts.
The principle of settling doubts in favour of the party was introduced in the Code of Administrative Procedure in two Forms.
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Principle of settling legal doubts in favour of the party
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The principle of settling factual doubts in favour of the party.
first rule describes the recipe Article 7a The Code of Administrative Procedure, which states that: ‘If the subject of administrative proceedings is to impose on the party an obligation or to restrict or remove the party’s power, and in the matter of doubt as to the content of the legal standard, those doubts shall be settled in favour of the party, unless the disputed interests of the parties or the interests of persons object to it. third, the outcome of the proceedings is directly affected.
The further part of the provision specifies exceptions to the rules. The principle of settlement in favour of the party shall not apply where an important public interest, including the essential interests of the State, in particular its security, defence or public policy, and in the personal affairs of officers and professional soldiers, so requires.
The settlement of legal doubts ‘for the benefit of the party’ should be understood as meaning that the legal standard should be interpreted in such a way that the rights of the party are protected as best as possible. With regard to the above, it should be pointed out that, where there are more ways of interpreting a legal standard which can be considered beneficial to the parties, the Authority should, with the approval of the parties, choose a solution for the most favourable party.
The ruling principle in favour of the party constitutes a modification in Article 7 k.p.a. the principles of the public interest and the legitimate interest of citizens.
The function of the legal standard contained in Article 7a k.p.a. is to increase the protection of the rights of the party by reducing the negative effects of inaccurate formulation of laws. It is important that public administrations are the addressee of this provision.
second rule describes Article 81 a: If the administrative procedure is to impose on the party an obligation or to restrict or remove the party’s power and, in this respect, the doubts as to the facts remain to be removed, those doubts shall be settled in favour of the party.
There are also exceptions to this principle. And yes Article 81a k.p.a. shall not apply if the parties to the dispute are involved or the outcome of the proceedings has a direct impact on the interests of persons third; where the separate provisions require the parties to demonstrate certain facts; where an important public interest so requires, including the essential interests of the State, in particular its security, defence or public policy; in the matters of personal officers and professional soldiers.
Under this provision, doubts about the facts must be settled in favour of the party. Therefore, if it is possible to interpret the facts of the case differently, the in dubio pro reo rule should apply here.
The two principles, despite their short validity, were very quickly adopted in the proceedings before the administrative court, both from the perspective of the party and in the case law.
Examples of application of legal and factual doubts in favour of the party
The principle of settling legal and factual doubts in favour of the party is very often raised in proceedings before the Administrative Court and before the Authority by the Parties, which are increasingly aware of its rights.
The rules governing the treatment of the parties were applied: in the judgment of the Provincial Administrative Court in Szczecin of 23 August 2018 , reference no.
II SA/Sz 561/18 in which the Court of First Instance held that the use by the body of water administration to determine the fixed charge for the intake of groundwater of the maximum hourly rate of that intake provided for in the water permit was not a solution to the interpretation doubts of the provision Article 271(2) Act on 2017 Water law in favour of the party obliged to pay the fee, in the case of the Provincial Administrative Court in Szczecin of 1 August 2018, reference no.
II SA/Sz 573/18, the Court of First Instance stated that: ‘The legislator has not indicated which of the indicators contained in the water permit should be used to calculate the annual fee for the discharge of sewage into water or land.
In that case, provision should be taken into account Article 7a in the judgment of the Provincial Administrative Court in Szczecin on 8 August 2018, reference no. I SA/Sz 419/18 in which the Court of First Instance held that the function of the legal standard contained in Article 7a k.p.a.
is to increase the protection of the rights of the party by reducing the negative effects of inaccurate formulation of laws.
The addressees of this provision are public administration bodies, in the judgment of the Provincial Administrative Court in Wrocław on 20 December 2017 III SA/Wr 714/17, By settling doubts "for the benefit of the party" within the meaning of the standard of Article 81a(1) k.p.a., the choice of such an assessment of the collected evidence, at which the rights of the party are fully protected, should be understood in the judgment of the Provincial Administrative Court in Gorzów Wielkopolski on 25 January 2018, reference no.
I SA/Go 441/17, in which the Court of First Instance held that: ‘There is doubt about the content of the legal standard only if, after applying different interpretation methods, taking into account the priority of linguistic interpretation, the content of the law still raises doubts’, the judgment of the Provincial Administrative Court in Rzeszów of 18 January 2018, reference no.
II SA/Rz 1197/17, in which the Court indicated: Article 7a k.p.a. is to increase the protection of the rights of the party by reducing the negative effects of inaccurate formulation of laws.
In summary, it should be pointed out that the introduced 1 June 2017 the principles, and in particular the principle of in dubio pro libertate, have been adopted in the Polish legal order, causing the Authority to be unable to interpret legal standards freely, while completely disregarding the good and interest of the Parties where the decision of the Authority is to impose on the party an obligation or to restrict or withdraw its power.