Doubts have been raised in case law as to the proper basis for beneficiaries' claims resulting from subsidizing entities failing to grant and pay educational subsidies, or providing and paying them in an amount lower than legally due. For many years, subsidized entities were granted a claim for performance in kind, but in recent years it was determined that this claim has a compensatory nature. In principle, this has led to establishment of a line of case law on the application of the provisions on contractual liability by analogy. Recently, however, in the Supreme Court's case law, a view has been expressed on the application of Article 417(1) of the Civil Code. This view is correct. First, the prerequisites for tort liability of the subsidizing entity are fulfilled. Second, the prerequisites of liability for damage caused in the exercise of public authority are fulfilled. Third, the prerequisites for liability for legislative or judicial unlawfulness are not fulfilled.
For many years, the legal basis for the liability of the subsidizing entity for failure to provide and pay and education subsidy, or for providing and paying it at an underestimated amount, has been highly questionable. Originally, the courts improperly considered the provision of the statute as and independent source of claims for performance of an obligation in kind. In recent years, jurisprudetial arguments concerning contractual liablity of the subsidizing entity has been developed and established in the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court. It allowed the standard of protection of beneficiaries to be mantained and the risk of an obligation to repay the benefit to be eliminated. However, Article 471 of the Civil Code does not apply here. First. it cannot be applied directly, since the subsidy relationship is an administrative-law one. Even if it were deemed to be of a civil-law nature, due to the public finance law regime, the obligation would expire at the end of a financial year with no chance of any claim for damages. Second, it cannot be applied by analogy since there is no gap in the law.
Significant doubts have been raised in the case law as to the proper legal basis of the beneficiary's claim against the subsidising entity for compensation of the underpaid educational subsidy. For many years, the prevailing view was that this claim had arisen directly from a provision of the statute as a demand for performance of an obligation in kind. The starting point was the assumption of the civil law nature of this relationship. Even if this assumption is considered correct, due to the special regime of public finance, a claim for the performance of the obligation in kind could only appertain to the subsidised entity during the financial year for which the educational subsidy in question was or should have been granted. After that date, payment or supplementation of the subsidy would become impossible to fulfil for legal reasons beyond the control of the subsidising entity. Thus, the obligation would expire by law without any obligation for compensation.
PL
Istotne wątpliwości w orzecznictwie budzi właściwa podstawa prawna roszczenia beneficjenta względem podmiotu dotującego o wyrównanie zaniżonej dotacji oświatowej. Przez wiele lat dominował pogląd o wynikaniu tego roszczenia bezpośrednio z przepisu ustawy jako żądania wykonania zobowiązania in natura. Punktem wyjścia było założenie o cywilnoprawnym charakterze tego stosunku. Nawet jeśli uznać za prawidłowe to założenie, to z uwagi na szczególny reżim finansów publicznych roszczenie o wykonanie zobowiązania in natura mogłoby przysługiwać podmiotowi dotowanemu jedynie w trakcie tego roku budżetowego, na który dana dotacja oświatowa została lub powinna zostać udzielona. Po upływie tego terminu wypłata lub uzupełnienie świadczenia stawałyby się niemożliwe do spełnienia z przyczyn prawnych, niezależnych od podmiotu dotującego. Tym samym zobowiązanie to wygasałoby z mocy prawa bez powstania obowiązku odszkodowawczego.
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