Administrative Law and Administrative Procedure
What the exam tests
This domain tests the Administrative Procedural Code (APC) of 2020 and the Code on Administrative Offences (CAO): public-law disputes between citizens and state bodies, legality of administrative acts, procedure and liability for administrative offences.
Core rules
- Administrative justice resolves public-law disputes: challenging acts, actions or inaction of state bodies, compelling performance, and compensation for unlawful administrative acts.
- Principles include legality, priority of human rights, equality before the law, independence of the court, publicity and adversarial procedure.
- An administrative claim must meet form and content requirements; the court checks standing, jurisdiction and time limits. The general period for challenging an administrative act is three months from when the person learned of it, unless a special law sets another period.
- The court reviews legality, competence, procedure and proportionality; it may annul the act, compel action or award compensation.
- Pre-trial appeal is mandatory only where the APC or a special law says so, notably in certain tax disputes.
- Administrative offences require the elements under the CAO and a lawful protocol; the CAO governs liability, not the APC.
Worked example
A citizen receives a fine from a local executive body without being given notice or a chance to be heard. He files an administrative claim. The court finds the act unlawful because the authority breached the right to be heard and gave no reasons. The fine is annulled; the court does not substitute its own fine.
Traps
- Missing a mandatory pre-trial appeal.
- Confusing an administrative offence case under the CAO with a public-law dispute under the APC.
- Challenging an act after the statutory period without requesting restoration.