Requirements for justifying a cassation appeal

At the beginning, it should be noted that pursuant to Art. 174 § 1 point 2) of the Act on proceedings before administrative courts (Journal of Laws 2002, No. 153, item 1270,i.e. Journal of Laws of 2019, item 2325) the cassation appeal should contain the cassation grounds and their justification. Additionally, art. 184 of the above Act indicates that “the Supreme Administrative Court shall dismiss a cassation appeal if there are no justified grounds or if the appealed judgment complies with the law despite incorrect justification."

Referring to the titled cassation appeal – on February 24, 2021, the Supreme Administrative Court in the case no. I OSK 2880/20 dismissed the cassation appeal, pointing out that it was not subject to consideration, because the charges contained therein are ineffective.

When analyzing the content of the justification of the judgment in question, it is necessary to indicate the argumentation of the Court as regards the definition of the requirement to justify the charges. According to its content, this means that the entity preparing the cassation appeal should provide specific, factual arguments related to the circumstances of the case, which are to confirm the allegations. Moreover – in the opinion of the Court – limitation in justifying the charges to quote general theses, usually formulated in comments on the application of Art. 138 § 2 of the Act is not sufficient, because in the event of questioning the application of this provision in a specific case, it is necessary to refer toto the circumstances of the case. Therefore, if in the present case the applicant in cassation was of the opinion that there was no need to make certain findings in the case or that they had already been made, then she should have demonstrated this by referring to the material collected in the case, or by questioning the connection of these circumstances with the subject-matter of the case and the premises for its resolution[1].

When analyzing the cited justification, it should be stated that the above-mentioned ruling will strengthen the jurisprudence in administrative proceedings with regard to the requirements to justify a cassation appeal, eliminating the possibility of limiting oneself only to quote general theses.