Legal Position of Administrative Courts in Poland

Abstract

The article concerns the administrative judiciary in Poland. Firstly, the Author discusses the legal bases (in particular, the constitutional bases) and the scope of competence of Polish administrative courts, that is to say the ‘voivodeship’ administrative courts (courts of first instance) and the Supreme Administrative Court (court of second instance). Administrative courts in Poland are, in general, the “courts of cassation”, which means they may only control the legality of administrative decisions and may not determine the state of facts, nor replace administrative decisions by their judgments. Administrative courts are vested with the competence to apply the Constitution and they actively cooperate with the Constitutional Tribunal (in particular, by addressing ‘questions of law’ to the Tribunal). Secondly, the Author presents the scope of competence of the Commercial and Financial Chambers of the Supreme Administrative Court and considers selected legal problems in the administrative courts’ jurisprudence in commercial and financial cases.