SGH Warsaw School of Economics

Abstract: Subject of consideration in this article remains the problem of changing direction of interpretation in judicial-administrative jurisprudence, which sometimes produces consequences similar to the effects of a legislative change. Against this background, the authors attempt to formulate a description of the practice of application of law, i.e. to present jurisprudential arguments supporting decision on the scope of application of interpreted legal norm, as well as to reconstruct underlying assumptions. Using an example of two groups of selected judgments, authors consider cases in which argumentation of the temporal scope of impact of a particular interpretative direction appears in the justifications of administrative court decisions. The analysis carried out confirms that although courts generally assume the retrospective impact of interpretation, in a situation where the content of the derived legal norm fundamentally deviates from previous interpretative practice, they seek legitimization of their actions by justifying the intertemporal decision with constitutional values. These values provide an essential interpretive framework reflecting the cultural model prevalent in the native legal communication community. If courts perceive a risk of violating the values underlying the prohibition of retroactivity, such as legal certainty or principle of trust in public authorities, they indicate reasons for limiting the temporal scope of interpretation pro futuro, or on the contrary, for its effect ex tunc. Against this background, the retrospective effect of interpretation appears not as a consequence of interpretation being made, but rather as a kind of interpretative presumption that can be rebutted or confirmed if arguments are made that allow the interpretation to apply only to future states, or that give additional suport for retrospective application of new interpretation.

Keywords: change of interpretation, temporal limits, administrative courts, retrospectivity, legal certainty, principle of trust in public authorities, justification.

Language: polish

Opublikowano: nr 2(39) 2024, s. 5-18.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2024.2.5

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Number of downloads: 237

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University of Lodz

English abstract: The article aims to show how administrative courts (in particular the Supreme Administrative Court) participate in shaping the constitutional consciousness of citizens. The main thesis of the article boils down to the statement that administrative courts shape constitutional consciousness through direct application of the provisions of the fundamental law. This thesis corresponds to the assumption that justifications of the judgments being the effect of the application of the constitution have an educational value. Examples from the practice of judicial application of Article 2, provisions on fundamental rights (including those that have the nature of principles: Article 30 and Article 32), and Article 45 in conjunction with Article 184 of the Polish Constitution show that the justifications may fulfil the role of a carrier of knowledge about the fundamental law, the legal institutions regulated by it, and the essence of fundamental rights, taking into account the role of a court as a guarantor of the protection of individual rights.

Keywords: constitutional consciousness, legal consciousness, constitutional identity, direct application of the constitution, pro-constitutional interpretation, constitutional reasoning, administrative courts

Language: Polish

Published: Number 2(31)/2022, pp. 22-37.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2022.2.22

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Number of downloads: 343

This text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial – No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.