How to File an Appeal in Administrative Proceedings?

Lodging an appeal constitutes a subjective right of a party to the proceedings, which the party may, but is not required to, exercise. The procedural form of non-exercise of this right is the waiver of the right to appeal, either by written submission or orally into the official record.

The entity actively standing to lodge an appeal is exclusively a party to the proceedings. However, the current Administrative Procedure Code also introduces the institution of representation in Section 17, stipulating that a filing, including an appeal, is also authorized to be submitted by:

In the event that an appeal was not lodged by a party to the proceedings or by any of the aforementioned persons, the legal effects associated with the commencement of appellate proceedings shall not arise. The administrative authority shall not issue a decision in such a case. It shall notify the non-acceptance of this initiative solely through informal means.

The current legal framework does not establish any specific grounds for lodging an appeal in administrative proceedings. A party to the proceedings may challenge both the factual findings and the legal assessment of the case in the decision. They may challenge the decision in its entirety, or a part thereof. The grounds for review may be illegality (conflict with objective law) as well as the incorrectness of the decision (SOBIHARD, Jozef. Administrative Procedure Code [Správny poriadok]. Bratislava: Iura Edition, 2011. 218 p. ISBN 978-80-8078-403-4).

The Fourth Part of the Administrative Procedure Code, which governs review in administrative proceedings (including appeals), does not specify the formal requirements to which an appeal is subject. In this part, Section 60a of the Administrative Procedure Code merely refers to the application of the provisions of the First to Third Parts of the Administrative Procedure Code. The general statutory framework set forth in Section 19 (2) of the Administrative Procedure Code stipulates that it must be clear from a filing:

In the case of informal defects, the administrative authority cannot reject the appeal. On the contrary, pursuant to the above-mentioned provision, it is obliged to invite the parties to the proceedings to supplement the filing, set a deadline for rectifying the defects, and advise them of the possibility of discontinuing the proceedings in the event that the filing is not supplemented.

The appeal must be filed with the administrative authority that issued the contested decision. This requirement is justified not only by the principle of procedural economy, but also by the fact that the first-instance authority possesses the case file and, subject to the conditions set forth in Section 57(1), may itself grant the appeal.

In the event that an appeal is filed with an incompetent authority, that authority is obliged to forward it to the competent administrative authority and notify the party to the proceedings accordingly. However, it should be noted that an incorrectly filed appeal may not be delivered to the first-instance authority prior to the expiration of the appeal period.

The general time limit for filing an appeal pursuant to Section 54(2) of the Code of Administrative Procedure is 15 days from the date of notification of the decision. Special legal regulations may also set a different time limit, usually a shorter one. The time limit is deemed to have been met if the appeal was submitted to the first-instance authority or handed over for postal carriage no later than on the last day of the time limit. A prerequisite for preserving the time limit in the latter case is that the appeal was addressed to the authority that issued the decision. In the event of doubts and uncertainties regarding compliance with the time limit, a legal presumption applies pursuant to Section 27(4) of the Code of Administrative Procedure that the time limit was met, unless proven otherwise.

A further legal presumption that the time limit for filing an appeal has been met applies to situations where the appeal was filed no later than within 3 months from the date of notification of the decision, due to the fact that a party to the proceedings was not advised of the right to file a remedy, or was advised incorrectly.

One of the procedural effects of an appeal is its suspensive (suspensory) effect, which prevents the decision from entering into legal force and becoming enforceable until the appeal is disposed of. Only an appeal that is admissible, filed in a timely manner, and not excluded by a specific act shall have a suspensive effect. The suspensive effect of an appeal may only be excluded by a regulation having the force of law. In practice, however, situations not anticipated by the legislature may arise that necessitate the exclusion of the suspensive effect. In such cases, pursuant to Section 55(2) of the Code of Administrative Procedure, the administrative authority is authorized to exclude the suspensive effect of an appeal, but only if required by an urgent public interest or if there is a risk that a party or another person would suffer irreparable harm as a result of the stay of execution of the decision. We add that no appeal may be lodged against a decision excluding the suspensive effect of an appeal, as a contrary approach would render the measure counterproductive.

Another procedural effect associated with the filing of an appeal is the devolutive effect, which means that the decision-making authority shifts from the first-instance body to a hierarchically superior authority. However, this effect is partially overridden by Section 57(1) of the Code of Administrative Procedure through the mechanism of autoremedura (self-remedy by the first-instance authority).

Here is the translation into formal legal English using standard terminology from administrative and procedural law:

In conclusion, it must be added that a decision of the appellate authority that has entered into legal force may only be challenged by means of an extraordinary legal remedy or within the framework of a judicial review of a decision rendered in administrative proceedings.