Administrative Procedure and Administrative Acts
What this domain tests
The Administrative Code (Law No. 116/2017, in force since 1 April 2019): how an administrative procedure must run, what makes an act valid, and how it can be challenged.
Core rules
- Principles: legality, equality, proportionality, impartiality, the right to be heard, access to the file, motivation, reasonable time and good administration.
- An administrative act is a unilateral expression of will by a public authority in a public-law matter that produces legal effects. It may be individual or normative, favourable or burdensome.
- Validity requirements: written form, identified issuer, factual and legal basis, reasoning, date, signature, notification to the addressee, and information on appeal routes and deadlines.
- The act enjoys a presumption of legality and is enforceable until annulled; the issuing authority may revoke it within legal limits, while annulment of illegal acts belongs to the courts or the superior body.
- Grounds of nullity: lack of competence, serious procedural defects, error of law, abuse of power. Absolute nullity follows from serious violations; relative nullity protects the addressee.
- Where the authority stays silent beyond the legal deadline, the tacit refusal may be challenged in the same way as an express refusal.
Worked example
A mayor orders the demolition of a kiosk, citing public order, without notifying or hearing the owner. Step 1: classify - an individual, burdensome act. Step 2: check procedure - no notification, no hearing, no factual reasoning. Step 3: consequences - serious procedural violation and defective reasoning make the act vulnerable to annulment; the owner may also claim damages.
Traps that cost marks
Assuming a court annulment erases all past effects automatically; confusing revocation by the authority with annulment by a court; ignoring the complaint route or the appeal deadline; treating an internal note as an administrative act.