Legal Commentary by SIGMA on the Code of Administrative Procedures of the Republic of Albania

438 Pages·2017·3.52 MB·English

by  Wolfgang Rusch

Legal Commentary by SIGMA
on
the Code of Administrative Procedures
of the Republic of Albania
April 2018 edition

This commentary has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union (EU). It should not be reported as
representing the official views of the EU, the OECD or its member countries, or of partners participating in the SIGMA Programme. The
opinions expressed and arguments employed are those of the authors.
© OECD 2018 – The use of this material, whether digital or print, is governed by the Terms and Conditions to be found on the OECD
website page http://www.oecd.org/termsandconditions.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 6
PART ONE GENERAL PROVISIONS ....................................................................................................... 8
CHAPTER I PURPOSE, SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS ............................................................................... 8
Article 1 Purpose of the law ......................................................................................................................... 8
Article 2 Scope of application ....................................................................................................................... 9
Article 3 para. 1 Definitions of “administrative act” .................................................................................... 11
Article 3 para. 2 Definition of “normative sub-legal act”. ............................................................................ 18
Article 3 para. 3 Definition of “discretion of the public body” ..................................................................... 19
Article 3 para. 4 Definition of “administrative contract” ............................................................................. 19
Article 3 para. 5 Definition of “administrative competence” ....................................................................... 20
Article 3 para. 6 Definition of “public body” ................................................................................................ 21
Article 3 para. 7 Definition of “party” .......................................................................................................... 22
Article 3 para. 8 Definition of “person” ........................................................................................................ 22
Article 3 para. 9 Definition of “administrative procedure” .......................................................................... 23
Article 3 para. 10 Definition of “administrative action” ............................................................................... 24
Article 3 para. 11 Definition of “other administrative action” ..................................................................... 24
Article 3 para. 12 Definition of “administrative activity” ............................................................................. 24
CHAPTER II GENERAL PRINCIPLES .................................................................................................. 26
Article 4 Legality principle .......................................................................................................................... 26
Article 5 Transparency principle................................................................................................................. 26
Article 6 Information principle ................................................................................................................... 27
Article 7 Principle of state secret protection ............................................................................................. 28
Article 8 Protection of confidentiality principle ......................................................................................... 28
Article 9 Principle of data protection ......................................................................................................... 29
Article 10 Principle of providing active assistance ....................................................................................... 29
Article 11 Principle of lawful exercise of discretion ..................................................................................... 30
Article 12 Proportionality principle .............................................................................................................. 32
Article 13 Fairness and impartiality principle ............................................................................................... 33
Article 14 Objectivity principle ..................................................................................................................... 33
Article 15 Liability principle .......................................................................................................................... 33
Article 16 The Decision-making principle ..................................................................................................... 34
Article 17 Equality and non-discrimination principle ................................................................................... 34
Article 18 De-bureaucratization and efficiency principle ............................................................................. 35
Article 19 Principle of non-payment in administrative procedure ............................................................... 37
Article 20 Language and translation in an administrative procedure .......................................................... 38
Article 21 Control principle .......................................................................................................................... 40
PART TWO COMPETENCE, DELEGATION AND SUBSTITUTION ............................................................ 43
CHAPTER I JURISDICTION AND COMPETENCE ................................................................................ 43
Article 22 Determining jurisdiction and competence .................................................................................. 43
Article 23 Verification of competence ......................................................................................................... 44
Article 24 Lack of competence ..................................................................................................................... 45
Article 25 Prohibition to waive competence ................................................................................................ 46
Article 26 Competence in urgent cases ........................................................................................................ 46
Article 27 Disputes over competence .......................................................................................................... 47
CHAPTER II DELEGATION AND SUBSTITUTION OF COMPETENCIES .................................................. 49
Article 28 Delegation of powers ................................................................................................................... 49
Article 29 Delegation procedure .................................................................................................................. 49
PART THREE ENSURING IMPARTIALITY OF THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION.......................................... 51
Article 30 Legal impediments ....................................................................................................................... 51
Article 31 Self-declaration of legal impediments and request for exclusion ............................................... 53
Legal Commentary by SIGMA on the Code of Administrative Procedures of the Republic of Albania
Article 32 Decision-making and effects of exclusion .................................................................................... 54
PART FOUR ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ...................................................................................... 58
CHAPTER I PARTICIPATION IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE.................................................. 58
Article 33 Parties in administrative procedure ............................................................................................ 58
Article 34 Capacity to act in the administrative procedure ......................................................................... 66
Article 35 Party representation .................................................................................................................... 67
Article 36 Ex officio appointed representative............................................................................................. 68
Article 37 Joint representative ..................................................................................................................... 74
Article 38 Appointed representative ............................................................................................................ 75
Article 39 Assistant ....................................................................................................................................... 77
Article 40 Capacity for being representative or assistant ............................................................................ 78
CHAPTER II GENERAL PROVISIONS ON THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ..................................... 79
Article 41 Initiation of the administrative procedure .................................................................................. 79
Article 42 Communication with parties ....................................................................................................... 83
Article 43 Responsible unit and responsible official .................................................................................... 87
Article 44 Initiation of the administrative procedure upon request ............................................................ 93
CHAPTER III RIGHTS OF PARTIES DURING THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ................................. 99
Article 45 Right of the parties to inspect the files ........................................................................................ 99
Article 46 Limitation of the parties’ right to inspect the file ...................................................................... 104
Article 47 Right to submit opinions and explanations ............................................................................... 105
Article 48 Obligation to assess ................................................................................................................... 108
CHAPTER IV DOCUMENT UNIFICATION AND SIGNATURE CERTIFICATION...................................... 110
Article 49 Unification of own documents .................................................................................................. 110
Article 50 Unification in connection with electronic documents ............................................................... 112
Article 51 Unification of documents issued by other public bodies........................................................... 114
Article 52 Certification of signatures .......................................................................................................... 115
CHAPTER V DEADLINES ............................................................................................................... 117
Article 53 Determination and extension of procedural deadlines ............................................................. 117
Article 54 Reinstatement of deadlines ....................................................................................................... 120
Article 55 Decision and effects of the reinstatement of deadline ............................................................. 122
Article 56 Calculation of the deadlines ...................................................................................................... 124
Article 57 Assumptions for calculations of the deadlines .......................................................................... 127
CHAPTER VI REQUEST AND ITS SUBMISSION ................................................................................ 130
Article 58 Form and content of the request............................................................................................... 130
Article 59 Submission of the request ......................................................................................................... 133
Article 60 Registration and certification of submission of requests .......................................................... 137
Article 61 Other submissions ..................................................................................................................... 140
Article 62 Inaccuracies of the request of the interested party to initiate the administrative procedure .. 140
Article 63 Verbal request for the initiation of the administrative procedure ............................................ 145
Article 64 Right to complete, amend and withdraw the request............................................................... 146
Article 65 Preliminary verification before the initiation of the administrative procedure ............................ 149
CHAPTER VII PRELIMINARY ISSUES AND INTERIM DECISIONS ....................................................... 150
Article 66 Preliminary issues ...................................................................................................................... 150
Article 67 Interim decisions ........................................................................................................................ 154
Article 68 Termination of interim decisions ............................................................................................... 157
Article 69 Reconciliation of parties ............................................................................................................ 159
CHAPTER VIII JOINT DECISION- MAKING AND ASSISTANCE BETWEEN PUBLIC BODIES ................... 162
Article 70 Joint decision making ................................................................................................................. 162
Article 71 Administrative assistance .......................................................................................................... 166
Article 72 Refusal of a request for administrative assistance .................................................................... 168
Article 73 Procedure of administrative assistance ..................................................................................... 169
CHAPTER IX ONE STOP SHOP ....................................................................................................... 171
Article 74 One stop shops .......................................................................................................................... 171
Article 75 Responsibilities of one stop shops ............................................................................................. 172
Article 76 Information and procedure ....................................................................................................... 174
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Legal Commentary by SIGMA on the Code of Administrative Procedures of the Republic of Albania
CHAPTER X ADMINISTRATIVE INVESTIGATION ............................................................................. 175
Article 77 Principle of Ex Officio Investigation ........................................................................................... 175
Article 78 Cooperation during the administrative investigation ................................................................ 178
Article 79 Subject of investigation procedure ............................................................................................ 180
Article 80 Meaning and means for search of evidence .............................................................................. 182
Article 81 Evaluation of evidence ............................................................................................................... 184
Article 82 Burden of proof ......................................................................................................................... 185
Article 83 Presentation of evidence before another public body .............................................................. 186
Article 84 Methods for submission of information and evidence .............................................................. 187
Article 85 Failure to submit the evidence .................................................................................................. 187
Article 86 Securing the evidence ................................................................................................................ 188
Article 87 Notification and the right to be heard before a final decision is made ..................................... 189
Article 88 Exercising the right to be heard ................................................................................................. 193
Article 89 Exemption from the right to be heard ....................................................................................... 194
CHAPTER XI CONCLUSION OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ................................................ 196
Article 90 Conclusion of the administrative procedure ............................................................................. 196
Article 91 Deadline for the conclusion of the administrative procedure ................................................... 200
Article 92 Extension of the procedure deadline......................................................................................... 204
Article 93 Death of the party and termination of legal person .................................................................. 207
Article 94 Withdrawal or abandonment of the request ............................................................................ 212
Article 95 Impossibility of the object or purpose ....................................................................................... 217
Article 96 Failure to pay fees ...................................................................................................................... 218
Article 97 Silent consent ............................................................................................................................ 221
PART FIVE ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITY ............................................................................................ 227
CHAPTER I ADMINISTRATIVE ACT ............................................................................................... 227
Article 98 Form of administrative act ......................................................................................................... 227
Article 99 Formal requirements of the administrative act written on paper or electronic ....................... 233
Article 100 Reasoning of the act .................................................................................................................. 237
Article 101 Acts that are not required to be reasoned ................................................................................ 239
Article 102 Additional conditions for the beneficial administrative act....................................................... 243
Article 103 Act of assurance ........................................................................................................................ 246
Article 104 Commencement and ending of the legal effects of the administrative act .............................. 249
Article 105 Retroactive effects ..................................................................................................................... 252
Article 106 Publication of the acts in the Official Journal ............................................................................ 253
Article 107 Legality of the administrative act .............................................................................................. 254
Article 108 Absolutely invalid administrative act ......................................................................................... 255
Article 109 Unlawfulness of an administrative act....................................................................................... 259
Article 110 Effect and ascertainment of the absolute invalidity .................................................................. 263
Article 111 Mandatory declaration of absolutely invalid act ....................................................................... 265
Article 112 Correction of material errors in an administrative act .............................................................. 266
Article 113 Procedure and legal effects of annulment and repeal .............................................................. 267
Article 114 Discretionary annulment and repeal of an unlawful administrative act ................................... 278
Article 115 Annulment of a lawful administrative act ................................................................................. 282
Article 116 Repeal of a lawful administrative act......................................................................................... 284
Article 117 Deadline of annulment and repeal ............................................................................................ 287
Article 118 Reimbursement in case of annulment ....................................................................................... 288
CHAPTER II ADMINISTRATIVE CONTRACT .................................................................................... 290
Article 119 Conditions and requirements of administrative contracts ........................................................ 290
Article 120 Substituting administrative contract ......................................................................................... 298
Article 121 Administrative contract between public bodies ........................................................................ 300
Article 122 Invalidity of an administrative contract ..................................................................................... 301
Article 123 Amendment, termination or withdrawal from an administrative contract .............................. 303
Article 124 Applicability of other legal provisions ........................................................................................ 305
Article 125 Settlement of disputes ............................................................................................................... 305

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Legal Commentary by SIGMA on the Code of Administrative Procedures of the Republic of Albania
CHAPTER III OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS UNDER THE REGIME OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW ... 306
Article 126 Other administrative actions under the regime of administrative law ..................................... 306
CHAPTER IV INDIRECT PROVISION OF PUBLIC SERVICES ............................................................... 310
Article 127 Indirect provision of public services .......................................................................................... 310
PART VI ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES ............................................................................................. 316
CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS ............................................................................................... 316
Article 128 Legitimacy and administrative remedies ................................................................................... 316
Article 129 Exhaustion of the administrative appeal remedies ................................................................... 320
CHAPTER II ADMINISTRATIVE APPEAL ......................................................................................... 322
Article 130 Administrative appeal against the administrative act and its purpose ..................................... 322
Article 131 Content of the administrative appeal ........................................................................................ 324
Article 132 Deadlines of administrative appeal against an administrative act ............................................ 326
Article 133 Effects of an administrative appeal against an administrative act ............................................ 328
Article 134 Body where the appeal is addressed ......................................................................................... 332
Article 135 Conditions for admissibility of the appeal ................................................................................. 333
Article 136 Procedure of reviewing the appeal by the competent public body .......................................... 335
Article 137 Procedure for the review of the appeal by the superior body .................................................. 340
Article 138 Appeal against administrative omission .................................................................................... 342
Article 139 Content and effect of the act resolving the appeal ................................................................... 344
Article 140 Deadline for notifying the act resolving the appeal................................................................... 345
CHAPTER III ADMINISTRATIVE OBJECTION .................................................................................. 347
Article 141 Scope of administrative objection ............................................................................................. 347
Article 142 Content and deadline of administrative objection .................................................................... 350
Article 143 Review of the administrative objection ..................................................................................... 351
CHAPTER IV REVISION ................................................................................................................. 353
Article 144 Revision ...................................................................................................................................... 353
Article 145 Deadline and submission ........................................................................................................... 354
Article 146 Decision on the revision ............................................................................................................. 355
PART SEVEN NOTIFICATION ............................................................................................................ 357
CHAPTER I GENERAL RULES OF NOTIFICATION ............................................................................. 357
Article 147 Appropriate notification ............................................................................................................ 357
Article 148 Forms of notification.................................................................................................................. 361
Article 149 Notification receiver .................................................................................................................. 363
Article 150 Person responsible for the notifications .................................................................................... 364
Article 151 Places of notification ................................................................................................................. 368
Article 152 International notification ........................................................................................................... 368
Article 153 Notification in special cases ....................................................................................................... 369
Article 154 Notification mistakes ................................................................................................................. 370
CHAPTER II WAYS AND MEANS OF NOTIFICATION ....................................................................... 374
Article 155 Notification by surface mail ....................................................................................................... 374
Article 156 Notification via electronic means .............................................................................................. 375
Article 157 Formal notification .................................................................................................................... 379
Article 158 Ways of formal notification ....................................................................................................... 381
Article 159 Personal delivery........................................................................................................................ 383
Article 160 Notification through a third person ............................................................................................ 387
Article 161 Notification via electronic publication ....................................................................................... 393
Article 162 Public notification ...................................................................................................................... 396
Article 163 Official publication ..................................................................................................................... 399

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Legal Commentary by SIGMA on the Code of Administrative Procedures of the Republic of Albania
PART EIGHT EXECUTION OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE ACT ................................................................... 402
CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS ............................................................................................... 402
Article 164 Executable Act ........................................................................................................................... 402
Article 165 Principles of forceful execution ................................................................................................. 405
Article 166 Grounds for non-execution ........................................................................................................ 406
Article 167 Competent body for forceful execution .................................................................................... 407
Article 168 Addressee of forceful execution ................................................................................................ 408
CHAPTER II VOLUNTARY EXECUTION OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE ACT ............................................. 410
Article 169 Notification of voluntary execution ........................................................................................... 410
Article 170 Content of the voluntary notice ................................................................................................ 411
CHAPTER III FORCEFUL EXECUTION OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE ACT ............................................... 413
Article 171 Time of forceful execution ......................................................................................................... 413
Article 172 Notification of the forceful execution........................................................................................ 413
Article 173 Content of the notification of the forceful execution ................................................................ 415
Article 174 Forceful execution of pecuniary obligations .............................................................................. 417
Article 175 Execution of non–pecuniary obligations ................................................................................... 418
Article 176 Execution of non-financial obligations through third persons .................................................. 419
Article 177 Duty to cooperate ...................................................................................................................... 421
Article 178 Execution of interim decisions ................................................................................................... 422
Article 179 Immediate execution ................................................................................................................. 423
CHAPTER IV SUSPENSION, DISMISSAL AND APPEAL OF EXECUTION .............................................. 426
Article 180 Suspension of execution ............................................................................................................ 426
Article 181 Termination of execution .......................................................................................................... 427
Article 182 Postponement of the execution ................................................................................................ 428
Article 183 Consequences of the execution of a repealed or annulled act ................................................. 429
Article 184 Appeal against execution actions .............................................................................................. 431
PART NINE TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS ....................................................................... 434
Article 185 Transitional provision ................................................................................................................ 434
Article 186 Secondary legislation and internal rules ................................................................................... 436
Article 187 References to the legislation in force ........................................................................................ 437
Article 188 Repeals ....................................................................................................................................... 437
Article 189 Entry into force .......................................................................................................................... 437

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Legal Commentary by SIGMA on the Code of Administrative Procedures of the Republic of Albania
INTRODUCTION
On 30 April 2015, the Assembly of the Republic of Albania adopted a new Code on Administrative Procedures
(CAP), which created a comprehensive and practical set of rules, often referred to in EU Member States as “The
Constitution of Public Administration”.
In accordance with the Continental-European culture and tradition of democratic public administration, which
goes back to the early twentieth century, such a regulatory framework governs comprehensively what a public
administration should do and how it should be done in the relation to the citizen. It provides principles and rules
that apply to all authorities of the public sector and thus constitutes - together with the institution of the
Ombudsman - one of the four pillar that an administrative system (based on the Rule of Law) is built on. The
other three pillars of a Rule-of-Law-based public administration are: a clearly structured organisation of the
public administration and its bodies in all policy areas and territorial levels; a professional, competent and
independent personnel; and a system of effective judicial control of administrative actions. These four pillars,
together, support the overall system that aims at both protecting individuals’ rights and interests as well as
safeguarding the public interest.
According to the European Commission’s assessment the new Albanian CAP is in line with EU Law and the
requirements of the European principles of good administration, as well as international standards of good
administrative practice. Thus, it helps individual citizens to understand and obtain their rights, and promotes the
public interest in an open, efficient, and citizen-oriented public administration. The Code helps citizens to
understand what administrative standards they are entitled to expect from public bodies. It also serves as a
binding guide for public officials in any dealings with the citizen and the general public. By making the principles
of good administration more concrete, the Code helps to encourage the highest standards of administration.1
SIGMA - a joint initiative of the OECD and the EU, principally financed by the EU - provided support to the
drafting process of the new CAP by the Albanian law drafting institutions, in particular the Ministry of Justice and
the Assembly’s Commission for Legal Affairs, Public Administration and Human Rights.
During the final legislative phase, SIGMA was asked by the Albanian authorities to continue its support in the
first phase of implementing the new and, by its nature, very substantial and complex piece of legislation. For this
purpose, it was agreed to develop a tool that, on the one hand, allows citizens to comprehend their rights and
obligations when dealing with public bodies and, on the other, provides explanatory guidelines for the public
sector to put the spirit, principles and rules of the new legislation into every day administrative practice.
As a result, SIGMA developed this Commentary on the Code of Administrative Procedures2. With regard to its
structure, content and extent, this practical tool was inspired by models which are an integral part of the legal
and administrative practice in various EU Member States (in particular in Austria, Germany, and Italy), with
which Albania shares the principles and values of its legal and administrative system. Accordingly, the
Commentary provides, for every article, an explanatory introduction to its regulatory purpose followed by
comments on how to interpret each legal concept, with a view to their relevance for administrative decision
making in an individual case.
Target groups of this Commentary should firstly be the two “parties”, who directly participate in an
administrative procedure, namely the citizens and the administrative practitioners in administrative bodies.
However, other professionals will also benefit from this instrument, such as judges of administrative courts,
members of the bar, teaching staff of law faculties, trainers of civil servants, law students and journalists.
The development of this Commentary was led by Primož Vehar of the SIGMA Programme, with substantial
expert contribution from: Manfred Möller; Ulrich Ramsauer; Wolfgang Rusch; Zhani Shapo; Jan Skrobotz and Ilir
Rusmalli. Thanks also go to the Albanian Ministry of Justice, in particular the Legal Codification Department.

1 See also the Introduction to the European Code of Good Administrative Behaviour
https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/resources/code.faces#/page/1
2 The English version of the Code of Administrative Procedures in the Commentary is a SIGMA translation.
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Legal Commentary by SIGMA on the Code of Administrative Procedures of the Republic of Albania

PART ONE
GENERAL PROVISIONS

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Legal Commentary by SIGMA on the Code of Administrative Procedures of the Republic of Albania
PART ONE
GENERAL PROVISIONS
CHAPTER I
PURPOSE, SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS
Article 1 Purpose of the law
The purpose of this Code is to ensure the effective realisation of the public function to the service of the persons,
and the protection of their legal rights and interests, in the realization of these functions, applying the principle
of due process of law.
A. General Introduction
I. Purpose and content of art. 1
Art. 1 describes the purposes of the whole CAP in order to give a kind of guideline to the public bodies and other
public entities how to apply administrative law and how to proceed in administrative matters within the scope of
the CAP as defined in art. 2. The purposes are not enumerated clearly and entirely and must be amended by the
constitutional principles which provide guidelines for all entities exercising public power in Albania. As stated in
art. 4 para. 3 of the Albanian Constitution its principles are applicably directly. Moreover, the purposes must be
seen on the background of European principles concerning administration.
1. Rule of Law, Legality Principle
As stated in art. 4 para. 1 of the Albanian Constitution and in art. 4 as well the law constitutes the basis and the
boundaries of all activities of the state which means all activities of public bodies and other entities. That means
that
- all activities of public entities, especially public bodies must be in alignment with the law
- the provisions of the law must be executed in order to fulfil the legal requirements
- all affections of subjective rights or legal interests must be based on the lawn (art. 4 para. 2).
2. Protection of subjective rights and legal interests
As stated in art. 1 the protection of the legal rights and interests of persons is one of the main principles and
purposes of the CAP. As defined in art. 3 para. 7 lit. 8 person is any natural person, legal entity or subject of law
under the legislation in force. The administrative procedures must be conducted in a way that subjective rights
and legal interests of all persons involved are respected and protected. The rights and legal interests comprises
the fundamental human rights and freedoms as stipulated in art. 15 ff. of the Albanian Constitution and
moreover all rights and legal interests granted by special law.
3. Effective fulfilment of administrative functions
Art. 1 emphasizes the purpose of effective realisation of the administrative functions. These functions can be
derived primarily from the rule of law: The precise and complete execution of the requirements and provisions
of the law must be seen as the most important function of the administrative organs. Moreover it belongs to the
function to protect and promote both the public interests and the subjective rights and legal interests of the
persons. To promote and protect these interests mean to fulfil and execute the legal duties in an efficient,
economical, fair and proper way as fast as possible.
4. Principle of due legal process
It is a main purpose of the CAP to implement the requirements of the rule of law by providing legal procedures
to ensure the impartial execution and application of the law, the participation of the persons affected,
transparency of the decision processes and to fight tendencies of corruption. These aims must be pursued not
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Legal Commentary by SIGMA on the Code of Administrative Procedures of the Republic of Albania
only by executing material law but also by providing specific procedural requirements and by providing effective
remedies to protect the individual rights and legal interests of affected persons.
II. Constitution and EU-Law
As already mentioned before, the principles stated in art. 1 are entirely based on the Albanian Constitution
which comprises the principles mentioned before. As most important principles must be emphasized the rule of
law and the protection of the rights and legal interests of the persons.
Art. 41 of the European Charta of fundamental rights comprises the right to good administration which
comprises all principles listed in art. 1 and all others mentioned before. It must be seen as a main element of the
acquis communautaire” to have implemented procedural regulations in order to achieve the purposes of good
administration.
III. Scope of the norm
The purpose stated in art. 1 is of relevance for the implementation of the entire CAP. The scope of the CAP is
legally defined in art. 2.
IV. Relation to previous CAP
It must be assumed that the same purposes have been pursued even by the previous CAP.
Article 2 Scope of application
1. This Code shall apply in cases where a public body, during the exercise of the administrative powers regulated
by administrative law:
a) decides on the rights, duties and legal interest of persons, and in any other case, when the law explicitly
provides for the issuance of an administrative act;
b) concludes an administrative contract or performs another administrative action, which concerns the rights,
duties and legal interests of persons.
2. The provisions of this Code shall also apply in cases where:
a) public or private legal entities exercising self-regulatory functions in the area of regulated professions,
established by law, or being conferred the right to exercise such functions, in line with letter a) of paragraph 1 of
this Article, as per the legislation in force;
b) private persons who are conferred the right to exercise public functions, duties, or competencies, decide in
line with letter a) of paragraph 1 of this Article;
c) public or private legal entities, which provide public services, decide on the rights and duties of the service
users.
In cases provided in paragraph 2 of this Article, every provision of this Code related to the public body shall
apply also to the public or private entity or person.
3. The principles stipulated in this Code shall apply as appropriate also to the normative sub- legal acts.
A. General Introduction
I. Purpose and content of art. 2
This article describes the scope of the whole law and is therefore most importance. No regulation of the CAP
must be applied unless the case is comprised by the scope of the law in accordance with art. 2. While the scope
of para. 1 is classical the extension stipulated in para. 2 is without models. The latter is to extent the scope of the
CAP to specific activities of entities which do not fulfil the preconditions of para. 1 either because they are no
public bodies or because they don’t exercise public law.
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