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Public administration (government and local government) bodies deal withto deal withdeal with complaints and applications of citizens on the basis of the Act of June 14, 1960 - the Code of Administrative Procedure (and its subsequent amendmentsand its subsequent amendmentsand its subsequent amendments). This is the legal basis for the actions of officials who make administrative decisions on individual cases of citizens. An administrative decision is an act issued by a state body authorizedauthorizedauthorized to do so, specifying the legal situation of the designateddesignateddesignated addressee in an individually marked matter. An administrative decision is, for example, admission to school or college. These are decisions that directly affect young people and students. In your adult life administrative decisions may include a construction permitconstruction permitconstruction permit (consent to build a house) or granting family or parental allowance. Another important legal act regulating relations between the state and the citizen is the Act on Registration of Population and Identity Cards of April 10, 1974 (and its subsequent amendments). According to the Act, every citizen is obliged to register at his place of residence for permanent or temporary residence. This obligation also applies to hotel facilities. In addition, the citizen is required to notifyto notifynotify the commune office about a birth of a child, and provide its personal data. He should also immediately notify the commune office about the marriage and the change of surname connected with this fact. Information about the death of a family member should also be sent to the office immediately. FailurefailureFailure to comply withto comply withcomply with these obligations results in criminal liabilitycriminal liabilitycriminal liability. This information is also provided in order to obtain the right to a death grantdeath grantdeath grant or newborn allowancenewborn allowancenewborn allowance. It should also be remembered that not registering a child at the office preventsto preventprevents the use of health care and other benefits due to the child.

Commune

The commune is the basic unit of local government. It is the closest to a citizen and most matters related to everyday life can be dealt with thanks to the help of its officials. The most important issues that can be dealt with at the municipal (or village) office are the issuing of ID cards and PESEL numbers.

In addition, we can obtain a birth certificatebirth/marriage/death certificatebirth certificate at the municipal office, which also means registering children in this office. Also civil marriages are entered into before a president of a city, a voit or a town mayor or a representative of one of these officials. Under the current law, you can request to be married outside the office in the place chosen by you. The costs are slightly higher, though. Of course, the commune office issues copies of birth, marriage or death certificates.

In difficult situations, the commune authorities should take care of the residents of the commune. For example, officials deal with the allocationallocationallocation of subsidized housingsubsidized housingsubsidized housing to people who are unable to affordto affordafford housing on their own. Funds are also raised, for example from the sale of municipal housing. In Poland, there are cities where, firstly, the old tenement housestenement housetenement houses are revitalized out of the commune’s money, and then they are sold to new buyers.

We will also ask the commune office to allow for organization of public collections or issue a certificate on the right to vote outside the place of residence.

One of the tasks of the commune is to issue personal ID cards.

One of the pieces of information that the ID card contains is the national personal identity number of the so‑called PESEL (Universal Electronic System for Registration of the Population). For an authorised person it is enough to know this number to find out all the personal details of a citizen (his date of birth, names of his parents, the civil registry office in which he was registered). On the basis of the set of these 11 digits which make up the PESEL number alone, everyone can establish the date of birth and sex of the person whose identification number he/she analyzes.

Poviat

To receive a driving license you will go to the poviat office. However, in order to obtain a driving license, you must first pass an exam (theoretical and practical) at the Voivodeship Driver Training Centre (WORD), which confirms your driving skills and the fact that you are not a threat to other road users. After passing the exam, an application to the poviat office for the issue of a driving license should be submitted via the appropriate center. The application should contain the following information:

• personal data,

• the category of driving license for which you apply and the qualifications confirmed by the passed exam,

• attachments: your photograph, the certificate of completion of the training, medical certificate, proof of payment of the fee for issuing the document,

• information about the place of residence,

• a declaration you are not addicted to alcohol and intoxicants (drugs),

• a declaration on not being subject to a driving bandriving bandriving ban.

You must sign the application personally.

Under Polish law, it is possible to obtain a driving license after the age of 16. Then the application is signed by the parent (legal guardianlegal guardianlegal guardian) of the underageunderageunderage person, because only in his presence the juvenile can drive a car. After reaching adulthood, full rights to drive motor vehicles are obtained in accordance with the category indicated on the document.

Vehicle registration is another very important competence of the poviat office. The registration confirms the validity of the vehicle’s purchase and its appropriate technical condition, which does not endangerto endangerendanger the safety of the owner or other road users.

In the case of residents of one of the 66 cities with poviat rights, the municipal office deals with all matters that can be dealt with in the commune and poviat offices.

Voivodeship

A passport is a document issued by the voivodship office, because only the government administration authority is competent to issue it. The passport performs the functions of an ID card abroad. It is not necessary to travel around the Schengen countries, though. It authorizes you to cross state borders and stay in countries other than your own country and the countries of the European Union. It allows you to confirm your identity and citizenship. The passport contains:

• first and last name of the owner,

• the date and place of his birth,

• information on citizenship and gender,

• a photo and signature of the owner,

• the date of issuedate of issuedate of issue and the expirationexpiryexpiration date,

• PESEL number,

• the name of the issuing authority,

• biometric data (the electronic way of placing the image of the face and fingerprintsfingerprintsfingerprints in the passport document).

The right to appeal against an administrative decision

A party dissatisfied with an administrative decision has the right to appeal. The appeal should be addressed to a higher‑level body within the time specified by law from the date of issue or announcement of the decision. For example, in the case of a school headmistress decision, you can appeal to the schools superintendentschools superintendentschools superintendent, and if a deandeandean makes a decision unfavorable for you, you are entitled to appeal to the rector. If the deadline to submit the appeal is exceeded, the appeal body states by a decision on the inadmissibilityinadmissibilityinadmissibility of the appeal. This decision cannot be appealed. It is final. Appeals are made through the body that issued the decision.

If the contestedcontestedcontested decision is of immediate implementation, it is up to the appeal body to decide whether to suspend its enforcementto suspend enforcementsuspend its enforcement. The appeal body should do this whenever a complaint seems justified or when it would be very difficult or impossible to return to the original state.

In the case of decisions issued by local government bodies (e.g. a voit), where there is no direct subordinationsubordinationsubordination between them, we have the right to lodge a complaintto lodge a complaintlodge a complaint against the decision to the Local Government Appeal Court. The appeal body may issue a decision to annul the previous order and return the case to the first‑instance authority for reconsideration or to consider the case conducted properly and terminate it. Then the dissatisfied party may submit a complaint to the Voivodeship Administrative Court.

Offices and officials in Poland are representatives of state bodies. Their activities should give the citizen a sense of care from the state. Officials should be competent and willing to help if necessary. Their decisions have a big impact on our daily lives.

The PESEL number is very important in dealing with official matters. Thanks to the PESEL number authorized officials have access to personal data. However, you must remember that this access cannot be abused. The Inspector General for Personal Data Protection supervises this. This means that if our data get into the wrong hands, we are able to enforce our rightsto enforce rightsenforce our rights in court.

Keywords

public administration, Code of Administrative Procedure, administrative decision, Act on Registration of Population and Identity Cards, ID card, PESEL number, Universal Electronic System for Registration of the Population, driving license, Voivodeship Driver Training Centre, vehicle registration, passport, right to appeal, Local Government Appeal Court, Voivodeship Administrative Court, Inspector General for Personal Data Protection, Schengen area, civil registry office

Glossary