Simplified proceedings, such as immediate coercion and direct coercion, are the subject of consideration in this study. The discussion focuses on the essence and aspects of proceedings referred to in Article 117 and 150 § 3 of the Act of 17 June 1966 on enforcement proceedings in administration. The aim of the research is to attempt to evaluate simplified proceedings as a tool in the system of protection of the most important human values.
The research mainly used the legal-dogmatic method of interpreting the content and ordering the legal structure. The analytical method was also applied, by means of which analyses were made of legal provisions concerning the basis for the appli-cation of the simplified procedures in administrative enforcement proceedings.
From the conducted research, it is clear that the primary goal of these proceed-ings is to counteract the indicated threats. The collected research material allowed confirming the thesis and presenting a de lege ferenda motion regarding the necessity to amend Article 117 of the Administrative Enforcement Act. The changes should consist in waiving the necessity to serve a reminder to the debtor before applying this procedure. The provision currently in force omits such a possibility, and the waiver itself may be the result of the need to save important values in an emergency.

Simplified proceedings, such as immediate coercion and direct coercion, are the subject of consideration in this study. The discussion focuses on the essence and aspects of proceedings referred to in Article 117 and 150 § 3 of the Act of 17 June 1966 on enforcement proceedings in administration. The aim of the research is to attempt to evaluate simplified proceedings as a tool in the system of protection of the most important human values.
The research mainly used the legal-dogmatic method of interpreting the content and ordering the legal structure. The analytical method was also applied, by means of which analyses were made of legal provisions concerning the basis for the appli-cation of the simplified procedures in administrative enforcement proceedings.
From the conducted research, it is clear that the primary goal of these proceed-ings is to counteract the indicated threats. The collected research material allowed confirming the thesis and presenting a de lege ferenda motion regarding the necessity to amend Article 117 of the Administrative Enforcement Act. The changes should consist in waiving the necessity to serve a reminder to the debtor before applying this procedure. The provision currently in force omits such a possibility, and the waiver itself may be the result of the need to save important values in an emergency.

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.

Under the provisions of Act I of 2017 on the Code of Administrative Court Procedure, a brand new institution has been introduced in Hungary: as of 1 January 2018, in administrative court proceedings, the judge may, with the agreement of the parties, allow for a court mediation procedure in the cases in which the law does not preclude it. The primary method to approach the topic is the review of the relevant primary legal sources [actual law in the form of the constitution (Fundamental Law of Hungary), acts, governmental decrees, orders of the President of the National Office, court cases, etc.] and secondary legal sources (Hungarian and international scientific literature explaining the primary sources, the legal practice and also the specific circumstances determining the broader social environment) through which we may define relevant scientific problems, create our own definitions and prepare a catalogue of practical problems, specifically for Hungarian issues regarding the topic. Moreover, this article tries to build on the results of the interviews with judges, representatives of different defendants (administrative authorities) and others. Qualitative interviewing, including the interviewing of judges and other participants of such proceedings, is a relatively new method in the field of legal studies, at least in Hungary.

The article examines the application of the principle of the active role of the court in the administrative proceedings of the Republic of Kazakhstan and foreign countries. The attention is paid mainly to the identification of the main function and the system of application of this principle. The scientific novelty lies in the study of important subordinate guiding principles, the influence of which is decisive when applying the principle of the active role of the court in the administrative proceedings of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The authors conclude that the judge should apply the principle of the active role of the court in order to have a fair trial within a reasonable time.

Mediation in the administrative procedure is a new institution that provides a chance for an improved perception of public administration, yet it also gives rise to a range of doubts. The latter spring chiefly, though not solely, from the nature of administrative control. The principles of the rule of law, objective law, and voluntary mediation, which may be taken an improper advantage of, contrary to the legislator’s intentions, are also identified as barriers.
Analysis of the issue implies that administrative proceedings leave room for mediation. Whether it will fulfil expectations, however, largely depends on the attitudes of parties and administrative authorities, or their employees, to be precise, for whom mediation is undoubtedly both a processual and mental challenge.
The introduction of mediation to the Code of Administrative Procedure is to be applauded, mainly from the perspective of inducing citizens’ trust in public authorities. Mediation may also prove an effective instrument of eliminating conflicts in administration and thus contribute to reducing the caseload to be heard by administrative courts.
It is important, though, for this opportunity to be taken proper advantage of and for the transformation of administration from controlling to mediating and more friendly to subjects administered to continue. This is a trend that deserves to be followed not only in Polish but also other legislations.

The forms of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedures were developed in the 1960s in the United States. The ADR is based on conciliation of the parties rather than judgement. This is possible through ensuring of broad participation of the parties in the dispute resolution. The ADR has as its objective the replacement of the adjudication process by forms of arbitration, contract, mediation and conciliation. The goal is to reach
a compromise. The basic division of the ADR is into the basic and the mixed (hybrid) forms. The basic ones include mediation, negotiations and arbitration. The hybrid forms include, for example, conciliation, fact finding, mini-trial. The ADR tools are successfully used for solving disputes in civil law, labour law, and administrative law and even in criminal cases. American agencies also apply ADR procedure called reg-neg to work out the content of legal regulations between officials and representatives of the parties concerned. ADR forms are also used in appeal proceedings. Despite unquestionable advantages of the ADR methods, there are critics who blame them for lowering the standard of the judiciary. There is no doubt that the application of ADR results in de-formalisation and simplification of the court proceedings and often in delegating the position of a negotiator or mediator to people without a legal background. However, this should not overshadow the greatest asset of the ADR, namely, the achievement of permanent agreements satisfactory for both parties.

Pursuant to article 9 clause 2 of Ordinance of the President of the Republic of Poland on Administrative Procedure of 1928, persons which possessed so-called legal interest in the case, were entitled to participate in the administrative procedure as a party. Both in procedure initiated by the authority ex officio and initiated on their own demand. The essential and still unsettled question of this construction is: who is authorised by the law to establish the existence of that legal interest, and consequently who decides on the admission of the applicant to the proceeding. This issue has been transferred to the Tax Code of 1997 with the implementation of that scheme, without taking into consideration the legal specificity of the tax assessment, especially self-assessment, to the tax procedure. Furthemore, pursuant to the ontological system, presented by Roman Ingarden in his work Controversy over the Existence of the World, an object which is the initiation of the procedure is an event, not a thing, processes, purely intentional object or an idea. Tax procedural law does not distinguish and name various types of objects properly, which causes serious problems as to legal interpretation. The aim of this work is to give some basic legal and philosophical directions for the reconstruction of the institution of the tax procedure initiation.

The theme of the article is suitable application of the provisions of the Code of Administrative Procedure in cases where a decision is issued by universities. The article discusses the case law of administrative courts and two ways of interpreting this problem. The article also the position of other authors and our own opinion of the author.

In the judgement C-403/16 Soufiane El Hassani v. Polish Foreign Office European Court of Justice noticed that provisions of internal law cannot limit the right to judical-review established in art. 32 par. 3 of Visa Code. The regulation must be interpreted in context of EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Meanwhile the sentence was answer to question of Polish Supreme Administrative Court and it arose under Administrative Courts Proceedings Act which prohibits performing judicial review over visa decisions. The aim of the paper is to explain that judicial review at those issues may be effectively performed by common courts, without damaging visa-applicants rights. The possibility comes from wide definition of civil case in code of civil procedure and attribution of common courts in some public administration cases.

The aim of the publication is to establish the function of the legal regulation of the principle of resolving legal doubts in favour of the citizen (in dubio pro libertate), introduced by the amendment of 2017 to the Code of Administrative Procedure. The purpose of the article is also to compare the state of the regulation in force at the time of its entry into force with the legal state created after the introduction of the amendment. It has been argued that the introduced principle worsened the legal situation of citizens in relation to their situation before its entry into force. The paper briefly presents the functions of law, including procedural law. This principle has been discussed and it has been established that it has a protective function. First and foremost, to ensure the security and stability of the law when the legislator has failed to fulfil its duty to legislate correctly and fairly. This function is of particular importance in cases where an administrative body unilaterally determines constitutional rights and freedoms. Resolving legal doubts in favour of the citizens is of particular importance in administrative law, which is very dynamic area (inflation and atomisation of this law), specialised (e.g. technical conditions of development) and complex due to the existence of various hierarchies of sources of law (constitution, statutes and secondary legislation, including local laws). The principle also protects other values, such as an important public interest. As a result of the comparison of the state of regulation before 2017, it was established that as long as the principle of in dubio pro libertate was a postulate of the doctrine, court judgments, interpreted from other principles of administrative proceedings, it did not suffer such significant limitations and could serve more fully to protect an entity. It the current state of law, administrative bodies can make use of it in a limited way only to several proceedings. Nor does it apply if there is – as is common in administrative proceedings – an important social interest or conflicting legal or factual interests of the parties concerned. The originality of the work results from taking into account the case law developed since the entry into force of the principle and the comparison and analysis of the situation of citizens before and after its introduction into the Code. The research carried out for the purpose of this work will be based on the comparative legal method as well as legal-dogmatic analysis, including the analysis of Polish normative material and the resulting views of the judicature and doctrine of law.

In 2018 Student Services Employee Association (Stowarzyszenie Forum Dzieka na-tów) was established. One of its aims is to get involved in a dialogue with organi­sations and institutions dealing with higher education, in particular with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education as the relevant public authority. In this regard the Association proposed three amendments to the Act of Higher Education and Science in terms of administrative procedure, in particular: notice on initiation of procedure, simplified procedure and silent settlement of case, which were sub-mitted to the Ministry. As a bottom­up initiative of student services employees at HEIs, it enables them to get involved in consulting acts on higher education and proposing amendments to these regulations. This role of the Association is significant due to the fact that in many HEIs student services employees have no ability to provide feedback on the regulations that they are executing.

The purpose of the article is to discuss the new regulation provided in Art. 189d item 4 of the Code of Administrative Procedure, i.e. the impact of the circumstances of the offender’s contribution to the occurrence of administrative tort on the administrative penalty. First, after conducting an analysis, I come into a conclusion that the said contribution does not affect the very fact of being held liable, but is taken consideration only at the stage of determining the amount of penalty. This proves that its application is limited. Then, I proceed with a critical analysis of the existing limitation, referring to the fundamental principles that should be taken into account in the process of law enforcement, which involves also imposing sanctions and determining the role of administrative financial penalties.