Studia Administracyjne

The presented commentary concerns the judgment of the Provincial Administrative Court in Szczecin dated 27 January 2022, ref. no. II SA/Sz 1182/21, which is interesting both from the perspective of substantive administrative law and procedural administrative law. A party who applied for a care benefit due to resignation from employment or other remunerative work was not granted the benefit in administrative proceedings, so she appealed to the Provincial Administrative Court. The Court overturned the decision. It relied on a different interpretation of the negative premise (that is the applicant's right to an old age pension) than what the authorities and the applicant invoked. This ruling is important for administrative law. The court gave a pro-constitutional interpretation, departing from the literal wording of the provisions. Invoking the principle of equality before the law and social justice, it applied the negative premise in such a way that persons in a similar situation would not be financially disadvantaged, thus broadening the group of persons eligible for the benefit. Moreover, the principles of information and trust in public authority were applied in a practical and very beneficial way for the party. The author approves of the judgment under review, at the same time polemicising with the judical decisions in the presented issue.