The Principle of Procedural Fairness and its Implementation in the Administrative Proceedings - Perspective of the Country in the Democratic Transition

Abstract

Procedural fairness can be considered one of the basic principles of contemporary democratic states. Its sources can be identified in the international law and constitutional laws as well as in the opinions of legal theoreticians. The procedural fairness shall be understood as the group of values that shall be protected by the legal guarantees provided in different procedures, including administrative ones. For the European “new democracies” a major a role in establishing high standards in this respect is played by the system of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Especially there we find clear grounds for referring standards established by the Article 6 of the ECHR (right to a fair trial) and procedural guarantees of other rights and freedoms (such as protection of property) also to proceedings before administrative bodies.The article is concentrated on the question if procedural fairness is respected to a satisfactory degree in case of proceedings before the regulatory administrative bodies such as competition authorities. At the beginning, the description of the procedural fairness as both theoretical concept and constitutional principle is given. Further, when looking for the values of procedural fairness and the scope of its application, the standards under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights are analysed. Afterwards, from the perspective of Poland, problems concerning the degree to which the procedural fairness is respected during the proceedings before the regulatory administrative bodies are described. The proceedings before the Polish competition authority is chosen as a case in point. In conclusion, the article underlines the importance of procedural fairness as the constitutional principle applicable in the proceedings before central administrative bodies that are entitled to interfere with the rights and freedoms of private entities.