Main celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Supreme Administrative Tribunal

100th anniversary of the establishment of NTA  
100th anniversary of the establishment of NTA Anna Tomaka/NSA
100th anniversary of the establishment of NTA Anna Tomaka/NSA
100th anniversary of the establishment of NTA Anna Tomaka/NSA
100th anniversary of the establishment of NTA Anna Tomaka/NSA
100th anniversary of the establishment of NTA Anna Tomaka/NSA
100th anniversary of the establishment of NTA Wojciech Zagórski/NSA
100th anniversary of the establishment of NTA Jakub Szymczuk/KPRP
100th anniversary of the establishment of NTA Jakub Szymczuk/KPRP
100th anniversary of the establishment of NTA Marek Borawski/KPRP

On October the 25th, 2022, a ceremony was held at the Royal Castle in Warsaw to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Supreme Administrative Tribunal - the direct institutional predecessor of the Supreme Administrative Court.

The ceremonial anniversary celebrations were opened by the President of the Supreme Administrative Court, Jacek Chlebny. In his speech, he reminded the audience of the history of the Supreme Administrative Tribunal and pointed out the role it played in the reborn Republic of Poland. He emphasized that the judicial and scientific achievements of the judges of that time  are also used in contemporary case law of administrative courts. The President of the Supreme Administrative Court pointed out that scientific studies devoted to the activities of the Supreme Administrative Tribunal often emphasize the high rank and authority that the Tribunal enjoyed in the interwar period. He appealed for cooperation in building trust in the modern administrative judiciary because "only through joint work and mutual respect of all authorities can we shape together the present time quality of the Polish administrative judiciary - in the interest of citizens seeking legal protection, in the interest of public administration expecting clear indications as to acting in accordance with the law and in the interest of future generations who will benefit from the achievements of the case law of administrative courts". On the hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the NTA, the President of the NSA thanked the former Presidents of the NSA and retired judges of the NSA present at the ceremony, who, in the often difficult political and social conditions in the eighties, tried to protect the rights of the individual in disputes with the administration with their rulings. He also thanked all active judges and employees - of the court administration and workers of the court offices in the NSA and in the voivodship administrative courts for their everyday work, especially in the difficult times of the pandemic.

In addition to the President of the Supreme Administrative Court, the ceremony was attended by the Vice-Presidents of the Supreme Administrative Court, presidents of voivodship administrative courts, judges and employees of administrative courts, and former Presidents of the Supreme Administrative Court: Prof. Adam Zieliński, Prof. Roman Hauser, Prof. Janusz Trzciński, and Prof. Marek Zirk-Sadowski.

The ceremony was graced by the presence of the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda, as well as other guests, including: Vice-Marshal of the Senate Bogdan Borusewicz, President of the Constitutional Tribunal Julia Przyłębska, First President of the Supreme Court Małgorzata Manowska, President of the Supreme Audit Office Marian Banaś, Commissioner for Citizens' Rights Marcin Wiącek, Chairwoman of the National Council of the Judiciary Dagmara Pawełczyk-Woicka, as well as representatives of state authorities, the judiciary, and legal corporations.

The ceremony was also attended by the Vice-President of the Court of Justice of the European Union Lars Bay Larsen, the First Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union Maciej Szpunar, and the presidents and vice-presidents of the European Councils of State and Supreme Administrative Courts from: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, as well as the president of the Administrative Court of Cassation at the Supreme Court of Ukraine. During the ceremony at the Royal Castle, the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda presented state decorations to retired judges of the Supreme Administrative Court. For outstanding services in the development of administrative law in Poland, the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta was awarded to judges Barbara Adamiak and Adam Bącal, while the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta was awarded to judges Wojciech Chróścielewski and Maria Czapska-Górnikiewicz. In addition, the President of the Republic of Poland presented twenty-eight Gold Medals for Long Service, awarded for exemplary, exceptionally conscientious performance of duties resulting from professional work to distinguished employees of the administrative judiciary in Poland.

In his speech, the President of the Republic of Poland emphasized that the greatest challenge that the Supreme Administrative Tribunal had to face was to unify – through its case law – the application of the law of the newly built Polish state and to set standards for modern law and administrative procedure. The establishment of a dual instance administrative judiciary from January the 1rst 2004 was a historic reform, the reform of the century, considering that even before World War I, the creation of a dual instance administrative judiciary was discussed and thought about. The President of the Republic of Poland stated that "the Polish administrative judiciary – its system, its judicial achievements, as well as the Polish jurisprudence dealing with it – has been consistently developing in accordance with its main idea or even the reason for its existence. That is, it serves to strengthen and practically implement the idea of ​​the rule of law, the democratic state of law and human rights."

Then the Ombudsman took the floor. In his speech, he stated that "the courage of judges in applying the Constitution, in promoting standards of protection of freedoms and civil rights led to the fact that both after regaining independence after the partitions, during the period of building the Second Polish Republic, also the difficult period after 1926, then in the dark times of martial law and the communist regime, as well as today, in a free and democratic Poland, a citizen does not feel helpless in the face of an official".

On behalf of the Association of Councils of State and Supreme Administrative Courts of the European Union (ACA - Europe), Judge Kari Kuusiniemi - Vice-President of the Association, President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland took the floor. He referred to the assessment of Koen Lenaerst – President of the CJEU, who stated that “national administrative courts are of key importance for the development of European Union law, preventing public administration from arbitrarily limiting it. The Supreme Administrative Court has always taken its role as a guarantor of these rights very seriously, and this is an essential element of the rule of law”.

President of the Supreme Administrative Court Jacek Chlebny read a commemorative letter sent by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

In memory of the Holy Mass celebrated a hundred years ago by Cardinal Aleksander Kakowski to inaugurate the activity of the NTA, Cardinal Kaźmierz Nycz celebrated Holy Mass in the Archcathedral of St. John the Baptist in Warsaw for deceased judges and employees of the Supreme Administrative Tribunal and the Supreme Administrative Court, as well as judges and employees of the Supreme Administrative Court and voivodship administrative courts.

On 25th of October 2022, after the ceremony at the Royal Castle, the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda received a delegation from the Association of the Councils of State and Supreme Administrative Courts of the European Union (ACA – Europe) at the Belweder Palace, consisting of: Vice-President of the Court of Justice of the European Union Lars Bay Larsen, First Advocate General of the CJEU Maciej Szpunar, President of the Administrative Law Chamber of the Supreme Court of Estonia Ivo Pilving, President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland Kari Kuusiniemi, President of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic Karel Šimka, President of the Federal Administrative Court of Germany Andreas Korbmacher, Vice-President of the Administrative Court of Hungary András Patyi, President of the Administrative Court of Luxembourg Francis Delaporte, President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Slovakia Pavol Nad’, President of the Supreme Court of Slovenia Damijan Florjaacic, President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania Skirgaile Žlimiene, Vice-President of the Council of State of Greece Diomidis KirIllopoulos, First President of the Council of State of Belgium Wilfried van Vaerenbergh and President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine Mykhailo Smokovych. The delegation was accompanied by the President of the Supreme Administrative Court Jacek Chlebny.

Speech of the President of the Supreme Administrative Court – download (549 KB, PDF)

Speech of the President of the Republic of Poland – link

Occasional letter of the Prime Minister – download (1.1 MB, PDF)

Speech of the Vice-President of the Association of Councils of State and Supreme Administrative Courts of the European Union (ACA – Europe) - download (475 KB, PDF)