Administrative Law

Administrative Law is part of Public Law, but it is a legal field in which punishment does not prevail. It always governs the relation between the administration and the citizen or individual. Of course, any individual or business initiative shall be restricted by the administration.

Administrative Law is the law that provides the competent administration body with the necessary legal instruments, but at the same time provides the company or its members with influence on said administration body and protection against it. For example, a building permit is required for constructing, by virtue of the Housing Law, the Urban Planning Law, the Construction Decree, the Construction Ordinance and the urban plan. Administrative Law is comprised of all these laws and regulations of lower hierarchy. Other examples of very well known permits are hotel licences and the environmental permits.

The intervention of the administration often becomes evident, in addition to the granting of permits and subsidies, in the introduction of certain regulations mostly aimed at governing and, to a lower extent, at the punishing component. These administrative measures adopt the form of resolutions. These resolutions may affect your company or yourself as an individual. You may be affected, among other things, by the resolutions imposing a penalty, a coercive action or an administrative sanction. Frequently, the local government is the one imposing these measures if you infringe certain regulations. You are given the chance to rectify the illegal situation within a certain period and otherwise, the administration may demand the payment of substantial amounts of money or pay these amounts and then charge the costs against you.

If you think this is a mistake, either because your company has not infringed any regulation or because of other reasons, you must timely file your objection (within six weeks). Otherwise, the resolution will be irrevocable and there will be nothing else to do. When the administrative body maintains the resolution against your claim, you may appeal to the administrative court. For certain resolutions, there is another legal procedure. Should the resolution follow the ordinary administrative procedure, first you can file your request, and after the corresponding resolution, you can appeal the case directly to the court. Another possibility is to request the judge to issue an interim order if your case is urgent and you have been unfairly harmed by the adopted resolution. This is also called abridged administrative procedure.

There is no obligation in Administrative Law to resort to a lawyer, but considering the degree of complexity of regulations and the relevance of your case, it is advisable.

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