On October 6, the Sejm read for the first time the Act on Amending the Administrative Procedure Code and the Tax Ordinance. The Act assumes that every new administrative or tax case should have its file records where all persons which have participated in the proceedings will be recorded. It is to increase the transparency of officials’ actions.

The draft Act also intends to introduce an obligation for every decision to be justified in detail. An official will no longer be able to simply quote the legal basis for the decision. The official will also have to inform whether another interpretation of a given provision is possible and the reason for which in the particular case the official recognised the given interpretation to be applicable.

The intended changes will surely add work for officials and they may affect the duration of administrative or tax proceedings. On the other hand, the obligation to thoroughly justify the issued decisions should improve their quality. Moreover, it will be easier for a party to take a stand with regard to the opinion of administrative authority if such opinion is duly justified.

Contact person: Lech Gniady, lg@pnplaw.pl