The aim of the article is to present the constitutional limits for the application of administrative sanctions in the Polish legal system. Although the issue of administrative liability has not been directly addressed in the Constitution, it does not mean that it is constitutionally indifferent. Polish Constitutional Tribunal has developed significant case law posing several conditions which are to be taken into account by the lawmakers and the administrative courts. In 2017 the lawmakers have made an effort to unify rules of the application of administrative sanctions by adopting a wide amendment to the Code of Administrative Procedure. This amendment provides for, i.e., the principle of non-responsibility for violations of law caused by force majeure, the power of an administrative body to determine the amount of the monetary penalty in according to conditions set forth by this Code, the principle of application of a law more lenient for the perpetrator of a violation of law and the ne bis in idem principle. Despite the development of the constitutional case law and the recent legislative intervention, several questions concerning administrative sanction remain, above all the permissible scope of transferring the power to impose penalties for violations of law to administrative bodies at the cost of exclusive power of courts to exercise justice and the adequacy of tools used by the administrative courts to exercise control over decisions of these bodies in this field.

The aim of the article is to present the constitutional limits for the application of administrative sanctions in the Polish legal system. Although the issue of administrative liability has not been directly addressed in the Constitution, it does not mean that it is constitutionally indifferent. Polish Constitutional Tribunal has developed significant case law posing several conditions which are to be taken into account by the lawmakers and the administrative courts. In 2017 the lawmakers have made an effort to unify rules of the application of administrative sanctions by adopting a wide amendment to the Code of Administrative Procedure. This amendment provides for, i.e., the principle of non-responsibility for violations of law caused by force majeure, the power of an administrative body to determine the amount of the monetary penalty in according to conditions set forth by this Code, the principle of application of a law more lenient for the perpetrator of a violation of law and the ne bis in idem principle. Despite the development of the constitutional case law and the recent legislative intervention, several questions concerning administrative sanction remain, above all the permissible scope of transferring the power to impose penalties for violations of law to administrative bodies at the cost of exclusive power of courts to exercise justice and the adequacy of tools used by the administrative courts to exercise control over decisions of these bodies in this field.