The aim of the article is to explain the reasons for the introduction of mediation in administrative law. Mediation is presented in the light of the Recommendation of the Committee of the Council of Ministers R (2001)9 of 5 September 2001 on Alternatives to Litigation Between Administrative Authorities and Private Parties. The adoption of this act was justified by the situation of administrative courts in the member states of the Council of Europe. The common problems in the area of justice were the excessive number of court cases, excessive formalisation of court proceedings and a dispute resolution model that would disregard solutions that could satisfy both parties to the administrative dispute. It was also stated that these problems might have a negative impact on citizens’ access to justice and lead to the violation of the rights of the parties to court proceedings, referred to in Article 6 par. 1 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The measures that may constitute an alternative to the judicial resolution of administrative disputes in the Recommendation include: internal control of administrative acts, amicable proceedings/conciliation, mediation, settlement and arbitration. This Recommendation has shaped the Polish solutions in the field of introducing alternative dispute resolution methods to administrative law. However, in the realities of the Polish legal conditions included in the Recommendation, the proposals have become an incentive to introduce only the institution of mediation. First, it became part of the court-administrative proceedings, and then it was introduced to the administrative proceedings. Currently, when after the introduction of mediation to the Code of Administrative Procedure, the use of ADR methods under administrative law has again become the subject of a broader interest in the doctrine, it is worth recalling the reasons why in 2001 the Council of Europe recommended introducing alternatives to national legal orders.
The article deals with the institution of mediation in court and administrative proceedings, regulated by the provisions of the Law on Proceedings before Administrative Courts (LPA) of 30 August 2002. According to the assumptions, mediation was supposed to streamline the proceedings by facilitating the resolution of disputed issues emerging in a case subject to control by an administrative court. However, mediation has not found wider application. The article aims to establish the reasons for the limited scale of the use of this institution, including the decrease in the number of mediations conducted before voivodeship administrative courts. The research covers the years 2004–2017, that is, the period when mediation was conducted by judges or court referendaries. The source material for the considerations presented in the article are new data from interviews with judges and court referendaries. The article presents the opinions of these people on the reasons for the consistent decrease in the number of cases referred to mediation. The authors also rely on statistical data from the Supreme Administrative Court. The analysis is conducted from a sociological and legal perspective. The research presented in the article shows that the reasons for the decrease in the number of cases referred to mediation in the years 2004–2017 can be explained on the basis of the theory of social role and the theory of rational choice. The conducted research complements the current state of knowledge on mediation in the LPA and allows us to identify further directions for the development of this procedural institution.
PL
Przedmiotem rozważań w artykule jest instytucja mediacji w postępowaniu sądowoadministracyjnym, regulowana przepisami ustawy z 30 sierpnia 2002 r. – Prawo o postępowaniu przed sądami administracyjnymi (p.p.s.a.). Zgodnie z założeniami mediacja miała usprawnić postępowanie, ułatwiając rozwiązywanie kwestii spornych ujawniających się w sprawie będącej przedmiotem kontroli sądu administracyjnego. Mediacja nie znalazła jednak szerszego zastosowania. Celem artykułu jest próba ustalenia przyczyn ograniczonej skali korzystania z tej instytucji, w tym spadku liczby mediacji prowadzonych przed wojewódzkimi sądami administracyjnymi. Badania obejmują lata 2004–2017, a więc okres, w którym mediację prowadzili sędziowie lub referendarze sądowi. Materiałem źródłowym dla rozważań przedstawionych w artykule są nowe dane pochodzące z wywiadów z sędziami i referendarzami sądowymi. W artykule zaprezentowano ich opinie na temat przyczyn konsekwentnego spadku liczby spraw kierowanych do mediacji. Autorzy opierają się również na danych statystycznych Naczelnego Sądu Administracyjnego. Analiza prowadzona jest z perspektywy socjologiczno-prawnej. Z zaprezentowanych w artykule badań wynika, że przyczyny spadku liczby spraw kierowanych do mediacji w latach 2004–2017 mogą być wyjaśnione na gruncie teorii roli społecznej oraz teorii racjonalnego wyboru. Przeprowadzone badania uzupełniają aktualny stan wiedzy na temat mediacji w p.p.s.a. oraz pozwalają wyznaczać dalsze kierunki rozwoju tej instytucji procesowej.
Global warming is, besides the COVID-19 pandemic, the greatest challenge for international society nowadays. Further reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is a crucial issue for the European Union and member states. In accordance with European Commission’s long-term strategy, by 2050 United Europe’s economy will have been neutral for the climate. In Poland, the main source of energy is still coal therefore the need to spread and accelerate the use of renewable energy sources is urgent. However, the pace of work in this area is determined by the law procedure for obtaining legal permits for investments in renewable energy sources. This article is a scientific analysis of the Polish legal provisions related to obtaining a decision on environmental conditions. The authors have used formal-dogmatic and theoretical methods supplemented with an analysis of the judgments of Polish administrative courts. In light of Polish regulations, investments in renewable energy are investments that have a significant impact on the environment and as such require a complex environmental assessment in an administrative procedure.
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