A draft for amendment and supplement of the Administrative Procedure Code has been published on the Public Consultation Portal of the Council of Ministers. The draft mainly concerns two groups of changes, dictated by decision C-289/21 of the Court of Justice of the European Union, as well as by the reform for accessible, effective, and predictable justice in administrative cases, according to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The changes are related, on the one hand, to the necessity of turning the judicial practice of administrative courts which are currently terminating cases about the lawfulness of a general administrative act ("GAA") or subordinate regulatory act ("SRA"), when the disputed act has been repealed ex officio by the administrative authority itself before the initiated judicial proceedings have concluded with a final judicial act. The other group of changes concerns the digitization of the administrative process.

In particular, the first group of changes regulates a hypothesis where a GAA or SRA is contested by an individual or entity affected by the act, i.e. someone with a proven legal interest. However, before the completion of the judicial proceedings, the very administrative authority which issued the act repeals the respective GAA or SRA. In such cases, judicial proceedings were typically terminated by the court since it was presumed that due to the repeal of the act, the appealing individual/entity no longer had an interest in the appeal. However, the draft law proposes that even in this scenario, the case may continue under certain conditions despite the official repeal of the respective GAA or SRA, and the court shall be obliged to issue a decision on the lawfulness of the act in question.

The idea behind this change is that the appealing individual/entity would be entitled to claim compensation for damages incurred as a result of the unlawful act (for the period prior to its repeal by the administrative authority) only if a court decision declaring the GAA or SRA void / unlawful has been issued.

As regards the second group of changes - the digitization of the administrative process, the following significant new provisions should be emphasized:

1. A group of individuals and bodies is identified who would be required to submit requests for issuance of individual administrative acts ("IAA") solely in electronic form – bodies of the judiciary, the ombudsman, lawyers, etc.
2. An option is provided for all other persons and entities to submit applications for the issuance of IAA electronically, if they prefer so. This option will be available 24 hours a day.
3. A wide range of participants in the proceedings before an administrative authority or court are required to provide an electronic address for summons and receipt of documents and notifications – the very administrative authorities, judicial bodies, lawyers, etc., unless there is a "technical impossibility" to perform a certain procedural action electronically (in which case paper copies could be used).
4. Every administrative authority will be required to maintain an electronic dossier in all cases of received applications for issuance of IAA. All documents under the dossier must be described in the order they are received. This measure aims at two main goals: reducing administrative burden and ensuring swift access at any time and from any place for the parties to the electronic dossier.
5. In court proceedings, there is a possibility for certain procedural actions to be performed electronically through the Unified Portal for Electronic Justice or through electronic registered mail instead of in regular written form (filing complaints, petitions, opinions, etc.). Electronic statements to the court should be signed with a qualified electronic signature.

The changes are expected to ease the burden on citizens and businesses in their dealings with the administration, including when appealing its acts.

If adopted, the draft amendment to the Administrative Procedure Code is scheduled to come into effect in three stages – from the day of its promulgation, respectively from 01.07.2025, and 01.09.2025.