Faster verdicts and less formalities? The Supreme Administrative Court proposes changes to court procedures

Proposals for changes to the provisions on administrative proceedings developed in the Supreme Administrative Court are intended to improve the efficiency of the examination of cases in administrative courts. The draft of these changes was submitted by the President of the Supreme Administrative Court, Jacek Chlebny, to President Karol Nawrocki.

“The amendment to the regulations is intended to accelerate the processing of cases by facilitating and simplifying procedural activities in court proceedings.and thus the implementation of constitutional and EU standards for the protection of the rights of participants in these proceedings,” the Supreme Administrative Court said in a statement on Thursday.

As noted, the change in regulations designed in this court “is intended to help ensure that cases are resolved by administrative courts while maintaining uniformity in identical cases and to strengthen the right of citizens and business entities to effectively appeal against administrative actions.”

According to the Supreme Administrative Court, President Chlebny presented the project to the president during Wednesday's visit to the Presidential Palace, which took place at the invitation of Nawrocki.. “The President of the Supreme Administrative Court submitted to the President of the Republic of Poland a draft amendment to the Law on Proceedings before Administrative Courts, prepared in the Supreme Administrative Court, with a request to use the legislative initiative vested in the President of the Republic of Poland,” we read.

The Chancellery of the President also informed about the meeting with the president of the NSA on Wednesday on the X platform. “This is another meeting at the Presidential Palace devoted to the issue of the rule of law in Poland and the situation in the justice system,” noted the KPRP.

The content of the project was posted on Thursday on the NSA website. The proposed changes included: introduction to proceedings in administrative courts of the possibility for the Supreme Administrative Court to undertake the so-called pilot resolutions.

Currently, the Supreme Administrative Court can adopt resolutions “aimed at clarifying legal provisions the application of which has led to discrepancies in the jurisprudence of administrative courts” as well as “containing resolution of legal issues that raise serious doubts in a specific administrative court case.”

The new type of resolutions proposed by the Supreme Administrative Court would include decisions in relation to “identical, in terms of the substance of the resolution, legal issues raising doubts that occurred in many administrative court cases”. Provincial administrative courts would take the initiative to adopt such a resolution.

“Application to the Supreme Administrative Court to adopt a pilot resolution will require the identification of at least ten cases in which the same, in terms of the substance of the decision, issues that raise legal doubts occurred,” it was predicted. After the Supreme Administrative Court adopts the pilot resolution, “in each such case, the Provincial Administrative Court should issue a separate decision taking into account the legal opinion contained in the pilot resolution of the Supreme Administrative Court.” However, after such a resolution, it will be possible to combine these cases for joint consideration and separate resolution.

As emphasized in the justification for the project, “the resolution of the presented legal issue included in the pilot resolution of the Supreme Administrative Court should allow the provincial administrative court to settle legally identical cases more quickly, and even to complete their resolution already at the stage of the court of first instance”. “Such a solution also implements the constitutional right to have the case heard by a court without undue delay,” believe the authors of the bill.

In addition, numerous other changes provided for in the project concern, among others: organizing the cases of hearing cases in closed sessions, regulating the issue of conducting remote and hybrid hearings in administrative courts, as well as deformalizing simplified administrative proceedings.

Another proposed change is to be introduced the possibility of waiving the report submitted at the beginning of the hearing by the judge-rapporteur, which is expected to shorten the hearings or allocating the saved time to further stages of the hearing, including the presentation of positions by the parties. However, waiving the report would be possible if all parties present at the hearing agreed. Moreover, if the public had participated in the hearing, then – as it was noted – “resigning from the report would not be advisable.”

It is also planned to clarify the procedural position in administrative matters of the Ombudsman for small and medium-sized enterprises. “After these changes come into force, there will be no doubt that the Ombudsman for Small and Medium-sized Entrepreneurs has the same procedural rights as a prosecutor, the Ombudsman or the Ombudsman for Children,” it was noted.

The next group of proposed provisions refers to situations when administrative courts use classified materials. The change is intended – as emphasized – to strengthen the rights of the party in such a process by enabling the authorized representative of that party to have access to this classified information.

“The proposed regulations take into account the jurisprudence of administrative courts, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights. The project was consulted with judges of the Supreme Administrative Court and voivodeship administrative courts and representatives of legal corporations, including the president of the Supreme Bar Council, the president of the National Council of Legal Advisors and the chairman of the National Council of Tax Advisors,” the Supreme Administrative Court's announcement stated.

Marcin Jabłoński (PAP)

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