Electronic delivery and the effectiveness of the right to a court hearing – the limits of procedural formalism in the light of Supreme Administrative Court case law.

Abstract

This article contains an analysis of the consequences of changes in the regulations governing the electronic filing of complaints with provincial administrative courts through tax authorities. The discontinuation of the ePUAP service and the postponement of the obligation to use the electronic delivery system by courts created a legal void, which resulted in the rejection of complaints filed with provincial administrative courts via electronic delivery, thus preventing taxpayers from effectively exercising their right to a court hearing. The existing case law on the effectiveness of deliveries is not unified, but the Supreme Administrative Court has finally adopted the position that the possibility of exercising the right to a court must be ensured regardless of the system of communication with the authority and the court. This constitutes the implementation of EU law and the case law of the CJEU and the ECtHR.