The Matter of Limitation Period of Administrative Penalties by the Example of Energy Law
The limitation period plays a crucial role in any legal system. It is commonly used in the fields of criminal and civil law. As for the administrative law, the regulation was introduced partially and in an inconsistent way. The Polish Constitutional Court pointed out, that one cannot claim its right or even expectative for setting up the limitation period in the field of administrative law. Nonetheless, once introduced in the legal system, the limitation period has to fulfill the requirements resulting from the Constitution. As for the energy law, the limitation period was introduced in 2015 by providing the reference to the provisions of Tax Code. However, the reference to the provisions of Tax Code concerning the limitation period were partially removed just one year later. The reform of Administrative Procedure Code introducing inter alia the rules for the limitation period of imposing and executing administrative penalties, was supposed to provide the general provisions applicable to all persons and legal entities. Nevertheless, due to the inconsistent regulations contained in multiple legal acts, such as the Energy Act, the usage of limitation period still casts doubt.