Determining Temporal Limits of Court’s Interpretative Decision (in Light of the Case Law of Administrative Courts)

Dr Tomasz Grzybowski, Dr Marta Sarnowiec-Cisłak

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: 90

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Legal Certainty and the Interpretatio Retro Non Agit Principle

Prof. UŚ dr hab. Agnieszka BIELSKA-BRODZIAK, dr Marek SUSKA

University of Silesia in Katowice

English abstract: Referring to Józef Nowacki’s research on the principle of non-retroactivity of law [lex retro non agit], the authors of this study focus on the relationship between legal certainty and retroactive changes in the prevailing interpretation of legal provisions. The main topic of the study is the expression ‘interpretatio retro non agit‘, which is already well-known in the legal culture, but not widely used. The objectives of the study were: (1) to determine the content related, or potentially related, to the statement above in case law and literature; (2) to examine whether there are grounds to consider this principle as binding in adjudication; and (3) to explain why changes in the prevailing interpretation of legal provisions are perceived as a necessary evil. The research gave the authors a basis to distinguish between two understandings of the interpretatio retro non agit principle: the narrow one and the broad one. Moreover, the broad understanding contains four sub-types of the thus understood principle. The narrow approach prohibits recognizing a change in the prevailing interpretation as a circumstance that would allow legally valid court judgments or final administrative decisions to be challenged. On the other hand, the broad approach introduces a presumption that legal effects should not be ascribed solely because of a change in the prevailing interpretation that occurred after the legal fact took place. Four possible justifications for the interpretatio retro non agit principle were also considered: formal, natural, cultural, and instrumental justification. The authors found that the instrumental justification, which connects the principle with the value of legal certainty, seems to be the most appropriate. However, some elements of the principle can also be convincingly justified formally. Retroactive interpretation changes are only briefly discussed in literature, which the authors regard as an unfavourable state of affairs. However, the fundamental differences between law-making and the application of law allow us to understand that protecting the addressees of the law in practice is much more complicated in cases of applying the law.

Keywords: legal certainty, legal interpretation, consistent line of case law, interpretatio retro non agit, ex post facto laws

Language: Polish

Published: Number 3(36)/2023, s. 51-65.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36280/AFPiFS.2023.3.51

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The idea of legal security of Polish inheritance law

Paweł Mącik

The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin

English abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present the issues of legal protection within inheritance law. A court decision made in the case of the ascertainment of inheritance, acquisition, or registered deed of succession, constitute the only proofs of legal succession, so their amendment or revocation is permissible only in the special cases indicated in the Act. Time and procedure limitations on amendments in respect of succession can potentially affect the accepted principle of justice. However, the State protects inheritance law and at the same time upholds legal protection. The fact that the legislator facilitated such a mode of procedure attests to the fact that legal stability and security of transactions are valued more than the protection of legal succession. However, this does not mean that the principle of justice and the protection of legal succession are not applied. Au contraire a person who is not a successor has the possibility to assert the protection of his/her rights at a particular time. On the other hand, the person who is a successor has to invoke the statutory presumption and has to have the sense of legal security guaranteed by the legislator which is required of him/her. As a consequence the conflict between the protection of legal succession and legal security arises. This presents the opportunity for reflection on the status of Polish inheritance law which will be provided in this article.

Keywords: inheritance law, legal security, legal certainty

Language: Polish

Published: Number 2(9)/2014, pp. 66-84

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Number of downloads: 201