Almanac of law. Issue 15 (2024), pages 441–447.

DOI: 10.33663/2524-017X-2024-15-441-447

Tymoshchuk V. P.
Development of administrative appeal under the Law of Ukraine «On Administrative Procedure»

The article is devoted to highlighting certain issues of the administrative appeal institution in connection with the adoption and entry into force of the Law of Ukraine «On Administrative Procedure» (LAP). The article lists the main novelties of the LAP in terms of administrative appeal for Ukraine. Particular attention is paid to the purpose of establishing new collegial bodies under administrative bodies - commissions for review of complaints with possible involvement of representatives of civil society institutions. This novelty is a key tool for increasing the objectivity of the complaint review mechanism and overcoming departmental bias. The LAP also introduces other provisions that should encourage administrative rather than judicial appeals: including the provision on automatic suspension of the appealed administrative act and others. This is important for Ukraine, as our legislation currently allows a person to go straight to court, unlike in the EU, where pre-trial appeal is usually a mandatory step before a judicial appeal of an administrative act. Finally, such commissions for reviewing complaints with the involvement of the public can be especially useful in systems where the percentage of satisfied complaints is extremely low compared to the percentage of claims satisfied by the courts (e. g., in the tax area), as well as for those bodies that do not have higherlevel bodies (in Ukraine, this is primarily in local self-government). All of this is ultimately aimed at restoring confidence in the administrative appeal mechanism and its wider use, as opposed to judicial protection. The article also reveals certain peculiarities of administrative appeal in executive authorities and local self-government bodies.

The author emphasizes the need to distinguish between the elements of administrative political control, which is manifested in the existence of the power to cancel decisions of some bodies by other bodies, and administrative appeal itself as a guaranteed legal means of protecting violated rights. At present, this distinction is a difficult issue, as a number of bodies have the power to cancel acts/decisions of other bodies (e.g., a local council — acts of executive bodies of this local council; the Cabinet of Ministers — acts of ministries and other central executive bodies; the President — decisions of heads of local state administrations). Therefore, additional theoretical developments, criteria, and regulatory changes are needed to provide legal certainty as to when and to which entity the relevant administrative acts may be appealed. Further research into the issue of «subject matter competence» is important in this regard.

The LAP encourages the use of administrative appeal as an effective tool that allows the administration to effectively correct mistakes and individuals to quickly protect their rights. All the advantages of this mechanism should be taken into account and measures should be taken to develop it.

Key words: administrative procedure, administrative appeal, complaint commissions, substantive competence.

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Viktor Pavlovych Tymoshchuk,
Senior Researcher, Department of Public Administration and Administrative Law,
Institute of State and Law named after V. M. Koretsky, NAS of Ukraine,
Candidate of Law
ORCID: 0000-0001-6109-0909