The position of the SAC within the state system
The legal-structual position of administrative courts in Poland comes from provisions of The Constitution of the Republic of Poland (art. 175, 184). Due to this provisions, The Supreme Administrative Court and other administrative courts, as a part of jurisdiction in Poland exercise control over the performance of public administration. Such control shall also extend to judgments on the conformity to statute of resolutions of organs of local government and normative acts of territorial organs of government administration. In addition, administrative judiciary of the SAC deals also with the settlement of jurisdictional disputes between bodies of local government, self-government appeal colleges and between these bodies and government administration bodies.
In exercising control over the activities of public administration, administrative courts assess, as a result of a complaint, the activities (actions or omissions) of a public administration body. Therefore, they do not replace public administration bodies and do not take over their competences to finally settle the matter and issue a decision. Judgments of administrative courts, if complaints are upheld, decide to annul or declare invalid the contested act or oblige the public administration body to conduct itself in a specific manner in the course of further handling of the administrative case.
Since the 1st of January 2004, Poland has introduced a two-tier system of administrative judiciary. According to Article 13 § 1 of the Act of 30 August 2002 – the Law on proceedings before administrative courts, the voivodship courts hear – as to the principle – all administrative matters, except for matters reserved for the jurisdiction of the Supreme Administrative Court. The administrative judiciary belongs to 16 provincial administrative courts adjudicating at first instance and the Supreme Administrative Court controlling the decision issued in the first instance. That is how constitutional rule of dual instance judical system has been aplied.