Illegality as a Prerequisite for Liability for Damages Caused when Exercising Public Power

Abstract

The principles of liability for damages caused when exercising public power binding now in the Polish legal system have replaced the regulations that functioned in this sphere for several dozen years. This happened when the Constitution of the Polish Republic of 1997 came into effect, and then when the Civil Code was amended in 2004. The new solutions in the sphere of responsibility of the State Treasury, territorial self-governing units and other subjects undertaking activities in the sphere of public power given to them, have been based on the prerequisite of illegal exercising of the power, as opposed to culpable behaviors of the state or self-government officials, or other persons who were entrusted with execution of defined tasks, that were required earlier. However, basing objective responsibility on illegality has posed the question about its understanding in the context of the cause of the damage, which is an activity in the sphere of the imperium: does illegality mean only infringement by authorities of the positive proof, or also infringement of good customs. The present study is an attempt to take a stance on these divergences, taking into consideration on the one hand constitutional requirements of the responsibility of public power, and on the other the traditional understanding of illegality as a prerequisite of compensative responsibility.