The issue of the rule of law as a criterion for the action of public administration bodies has not yet been the subject of wider doctrinal reflection. The reason for this state of affairs is probably the rather sparing reference by public administration bodies to the rule of law as a basis for their decisions. Meanwhile, the obligation imposed on the authorities in Article 7 of the Code of Administrative Procedure should be treated as one of their fundamental duties in ongoing administrative proceedings. The present study focuses on signalling only some of the problems related to the notion of the rule of law on the grounds of general administrative procedure, indicating the ambiguity of this phrase and the related various understandings of it. The conclusions should be regarded as an invitation to discuss this undoubtedly complex issue.

The article of a review character undertakes a polemic with the authors of the book edited by M. Nowak entitled The Role of the Law in the Spatial Management System on spatial planning and development presented from the perspective of the law. The authors undertook to present the role of law in the spatial management system, but they did so taking into account the fact that in spatial planning, apart from lawyers, there are also such participants as urban planners, city and landscape architects, officials and the public. In the book there are not only material legal accents embedded in the themes of environment, cultural landscape and monuments, but also procedural threads. There are issues of a general nature, concerning the role and interpretation of the law, interdisciplinary issues, reach ing into other sciences (economics, urban planning), specific issues (fee) and issues of a changing and dynamic nature (COVID-19 and spatial policy). The work strongly emphasises the axiological dimension with references to phrases such as public interest or common good. In good conscience, I recommend reading the book to all those interested in ‘planning law’ in the broadest sense of the term, and to those who prefer the intersection of legal and non-legal sciences. The book will also appeal to the academic community and the legal profession.

Corruption has been the centre of attention on a global scale. Almost all studies concentrate on corruptive effects on the governance, economics or politics. This paper investigates the citizens’ perceptions towards corruption and anti-corruption in Vietnam. This is a new look contributing to the panoramic picture of anti-corrup-tion. The study employed a descriptive approach with a researcher-made ques-tionnaire for 385 respondents selected by a stratified random sampling method based on Cochran’s formula. It was found out that preventive measures and corrup tion laws are not severe enough to admonish corruption offenders. Transpa-rency is not highly promoted for people to access information, so citizens’ super-vision is not very effective. There is a mismatch between citizens’ perceptions and external organisations’ assessment. It is necessary to implement anti-corruption law strictly and renovate people’s right to get corruptive information. Moreover, the government should recheck and adjust preventive anti-corruption laws to match each specific type of corruption. Urgently, the operation of the state appa-ratus ought to cooperate and join hands to combat corruption. It is advisable for the government to collaborate with external organisations to exchange experience in curbing corruption

The article applies the theoretical analysis of general clauses and phrases vague with respect to the amended Article 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.