Published: 2024-04-11

Polish public administrative bodies and the unconstitutionality of regulations imposing administrative fines in a fixed amount and regardless of circumstances:

comments on the ruling of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal of 20 December 2022 in Case SK 66/21 on the provisions of the Local Authorities’ Maintenance of Hygiene and Order Act of 13 September 1996

Martyna Wilbrandt-Gotowicz
Zeszyty Prawnicze
Section: Artykuły
https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2024.24.1.01

Abstract

The aim of this study is to review the imposition of a financial penalty by an administrative authority deprived of the possibility to assess of the amount of the fine due, regardless of the circumstances in which the tort was committed or the scope of the provisions regulating the administrative fnes specifed in Section Iva of the Code of Administrative Procedure (Kodeks postępowania administracyjnego); and with no attempt to apply the provisions in compliance with the Polish Constitution. Tis review was carried out using the dogmatic method to consider the Constitutional Tribunal’s judgement of 20 December 2022 in Case SK 66/21 on the provisions of Ustawa z 13 września 1996 r. o utrzymaniu czystości i porządku w gminach (the Local Authorities’ Maintenance of Hygiene and Order Act of 13 September 1996), concerning penalties for the overdue submission of a quarterly report by a waste disposal company handling septic tanks emptying and liquid waste collection and transport. The study presents the legal background to the judgement, the main points in its grounds, and the consequences of the decision for the judicial practice of administrative bodies. Special consideration was given to the mechanisms available to mitigate the automatic nature of the way public administrative authorities impose fines, from the point of view of a pro-constitutional interpretation of Polish law.

Keywords:

administrative fines, the pro-constitutional interpretation of Polish law, the direct application of the Polish Constitution

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Citation rules

Wilbrandt-Gotowicz, M. (2024). Polish public administrative bodies and the unconstitutionality of regulations imposing administrative fines in a fixed amount and regardless of circumstances:: comments on the ruling of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal of 20 December 2022 in Case SK 66/21 on the provisions of the Local Authorities’ Maintenance of Hygiene and Order Act of 13 September 1996. Zeszyty Prawnicze, 24(1), 5–23. https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2024.24.1.01

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