General principles of the Code of Administrative Procedure as guidelines for public administration authorities

Abstract

In general terms, administrative law can be defined as the part of the legal system that regulates the structure and functioning of public administration authorities in specific forms (in terms of the entities concerned and subject matter). With regard to the nature of the functions of public administration authorities, administrative law consists of an orderly set of legal norms, the rationale for which is the direct observance of the values identified by public administration authorities as being in the common interest. The concept of the common interest refers to the axiological foundations of this branch of law, as it aggregates all values specified in the Constitution and statutes for the implementation of which the law is made. By introducing uniform procedures for handling official cases, the administrative procedure ensures the protection of citizens from arbitrariness on the part of public administration authorities. The purpose of this article is to present the general principles of the Code of Administrative Procedure, CAP (PL: Kodeks postępowania administracyjnego, k.p.a.) as a structured catalogue. These principles provide guidance for public administration authorities. An official conducts administrative proceedings to the extent specified by administrative law. In order to properly fulfil their statutory duties, an official should have relevant knowledge of law. Keywords: code of administrative procedure, applicability of general rules, dministrative proceedings, general rules of administrative proceedings