Abstract

In its judgment of 27 of October 2020, the Voivodship Administrative Court in Warsaw invoked a crucial issue, namely the relationship between the principles of constitutional and normative nature, i.e.: objective truth, trust of citizens in the state authorities and proportionality as regards the sanction of withdrawing the permit to conduct operations by an investment fund company. In the opinion of the Court, in accordance with the principle of objective truth stipulated in Art. 7 of the Code of Administrative Procedure, public administration bodies are obliged to take all steps necessary to clarify the facts of the case and resolve it, which in turn implies the obligation to collect and examine evidence so as to determine the facts of the case in accordance with the reality In addition, the Court pointed out that one of the principles that must be followed by an administrative body is the principle of citizens’ trust in state authorities, formulated in Art 8 of the Code of Administrative Procedure The abovementioned principle implies that public administration bodies are obliged to conduct proceedings in a manner that inspires confi dence of their participants in the public authority, particularly in the case of authorities that have the power to impose administrative fi nes which, due to their severity and practical consequences, require particular care and foreseeability of actions Moreover, the Court stressed that when a public administration body imposes a sanction in the form of withdrawal of a permit, an analysis should be made in terms of applying the proportionality test, which is provided for in the Constitution (Art 31 3 of the Polish Constitution), especially given that in the factual situation under consideration a quasi-criminal financial penalty of a signifi cant amount and severity is imposed The position of the Court presented above should be fully approved.