TERMINAS SKUNDUI PADUOTI ADMINISTRACINIAME PROCESE: TEISĖ KREIPTIS Į TEISMĄ VS. TEISINIŲ SANTYKIŲ STABILUMAS

Abstract

 In Lithuania, the legality of administrative decisions made by the state and its institutions is controlled by administrative courts, and the administrative process is regulated by the Law on Administrative Proceedings. This legal act, among other requirements that a person must fulfill in order to exercise the right to appeal to the court, establishes a one-month deadline for filing a complaint. Within this procedural deadline, the state seeks to ensure that individuals promptly respond to potential violations of their rights and immediately seek judicial protection by filing a complaint with the administrative court. However, the objectively short one-month deadline for filing a complaint raises doubts about its proportionality: Does the state, by setting a short procedural period for appealing its own administrative decisions, limit the fundamental right of a person to access court, giving priority solely to the principle of stability of legal relations? This article aims to reveal how the one-month procedural deadline for filing a complaint established in the administrative process correlates with the principle of the right to access court, and how it interacts with the principle of stability of legal relations, which, in this context, can be seen as opposing. To evaluate whether the one-month deadline for appealing administrative decisions in the Lithuanian administrative process can be objectively justified, the article conducts a comparative analysis, revealing the procedural deadlines for filing complaints in other European Union countries. The research results show that Lithuania does not stand out in the context of other European Union countries by setting a one-month deadline for filing a complaint. However, in order to ensure both the right to access a court and the implementation of the principles of the stability of legal relations, it is suggested that the established procedural deadline for filing a complaint be extended.