Intertemporal Issues in Administrative Law and Concept of Retroactivity in Law

Abstract

In essence, this study aims at presenting basic intertemporal problems of administrative law. These problems are extremely complex and, despite a commonly held view on the alleged poorer theoretical issues in the field of administrative law, intertemporal issues in administrative law demonstrate an even greater level of complexity compared with such a well-developed discipline as civil law. This state of affairs stems from the very nature of this branch of law. Presumably, this is why within the field of administrative law we may encounter application of not only all basic descriptive principles of administrative law, but also of those principles that are particular in a certain aspect (e.g. the principle of validity, the principle of lex mitior retro agit). It is equally important to mention that intertemporal decisions are made also in the field of administrative law; the content of these decisions is only partially (if at all) determined by positive law.