European The European Charter of Local Self-Government in the jurisprudence of Polish administrative courts

Abstract

The aim of the article is to identify strategies behind the application of the provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in jurisprudence. The article comprehensively describes the application of the Charter’s provisions in the judgments of the Polish administrative courts. The study draws on classic dogmatic methods as well as the achievements of Empirical Legal Studies. For the first time, quantitative methods were used to study this issue. The results of the research indicate a qualitatively significant presence of the Charter in the jurisprudence of administrative courts, which is limited in terms of quantity, however. In recent years there has been a certain increase in the number of judgments referring to the provisions of the Charter. Courts more often refer to this act ex officio. On the other hand, the frequency of citizens referring to the Charter in disputes with local authorities is decreasing. Furthermore, the view that the Charter lacks a normative character is less commonly expressed than was the case in the past. However, there are still far-reaching discrepancies in the jurisprudence regarding the scope of application and understanding of individual provisions of the Charter, as exemplified by the cases concerning the obligation to consult local government residents (Article 4 of the Charter) and the
statutory independence of local government (Article 6). Particular attention should be paid to the growing number of cases in which the courts refer to the principle of proportionality of supervision enshrined in Article 8 sec. 3 of the Charter, not expressed explicitly in Polish legislation, and the importance of the principle of judicial protection of local government units expressed in Article 11.