The Imperative of Administrative Efficacy vs the Stability of Procedural Guarantees for Parties: Selected Issues in the Context of Applying General Principles

Abstract

The article analyses the fundamental dilemma of contemporary administrative proceedings, in which the pursuit of greater efficacy of public administration bodies conflicts with the obligation to maintain the stability of procedural guarantees for the parties. The study focuses on the practice of applying selected general principles of the Administrative Procedure Code in the context of the ongoing digitisation of public administration. The authors adopt a praxeological understanding of efficacy, distinguishing it from the narrower concept of efficiency, which is justified by the constitutional approach to the functioning of public institutions. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the relationship between the principle of promptness and simplicity of proceedings and other general principles, such as the principle of objective truth, active participation of the parties, and cooperation between authorities. The introduction of Article 14 § 1b of the Administrative Procedure Code, concerning the automation of case handling, is critically assessed, pointing to the risk of overinterpreting the provision in the direction of full automation of administrative decisions. The analysis shows that maintaining a balance between efficacy and procedural security requires the development of a new homeostasis that takes into account not only the directive of promptness but also the stability of procedural guarantees in an environment of digital procedural security and coherence between other principles of administrative proceedings.