The Directives of Penalty Dimension in Energy Law

Abstract

The Energy Law of 1997 gives the President of Energy Regulatory Office (President of ERO) the power to impose a financial penalty for violating the principles of conducting business in the field of energy. The amount of the sanction was set for most administrative offences by amount ranges or by relation to the income of the penalized entity. When determining the dimension of the said sanction, the President of ERO is obliged to take into account: the degree of harmfulness of the act, the degree of fault, the entity’s previous behavior and its financial potential. These directives are intended to ensure the individualisation of the sanction imposed for an infringement in specific circumstances. Both in assessing the harmfulness of the act and the degree of culpability, it may be necessary to use the achievements of the doctrine of criminal law. In the case of the previous activity of a punished entity, it is important to verify compliance with the applicable legal order. The assessment of financial potential is, however, to prevent the imposition of fines that would be excessively severe in relation to the breach of law. The analysis of the content of the conditions for the imposition of a punishment in energy law leads to the conclusion that their introduction by the legislator is justified, although in the first place the President of ERO should be guided in the application of administrative sanctions by the constitutional principle of proportionality. Modification of terminology should also be considered in order to adapt the wording of the financial penalty directives to all categories of entities which are subject to it.