We often submit applications to administrative bodies to resolve our various issues, but few of us succeed in effectively combating the violations allowed by them. The reason is our lack of awareness regarding our rights and the obligations of the administrative bodies during the consideration of the applications we submit.
If we seek the assistance of lawyers when presenting a case in court and utilize their professional capabilities, we mainly present our cases personally in our relations with administrative bodies. Considering this circumstance, our organization this time addresses the clarification of the Law of the Republic of Armenia on the "Fundamentals of Administrative Procedure and Administrative Proceedings." This law regulates the rights and obligations of administrative bodies and applicants, the procedure for considering applications, deadlines, the deadlines and procedures for appealing administrative acts, as well as issues of administrative liability. According to the law, administrative bodies include all ministries, other state bodies, territorial administration bodies (governors, the mayor of Yerevan), and self-governing bodies (community councils, community leaders, district heads in Yerevan, mayors, village heads in rural communities, etc.). Applicants are those individuals who submit applications to these bodies related to the exercise of their rights. The law on the "Fundamentals of Administrative Procedure and Administrative Proceedings" establishes the fundamental principles of administrative procedure, which administrative bodies must adhere to when considering the applications submitted to them. Knowledge of these principles will help you demand behavior from the administrative body that corresponds to the established principles. Let us perhaps address the most important of them.
1. Legality of Administrative Procedure: The essence of this principle is that when conducting administrative procedures, administrative bodies are obliged to be guided solely by the law. Administrative acts adopted in violation of the law, including those resulting from incorrect application or misinterpretation of the law, are invalid: "Law on the Fundamentals of Administrative Procedure and Administrative Proceedings," Article 63, Part 1, Subparagraph "a").
2. Prohibition of Abuse of Formal Requirements: The essence of this principle is that administrative bodies are prohibited from overburdening you with unnecessary obligations or denying any rights if you have fulfilled the obligations imposed on you in substance.
3. Prohibition of Discretionary Treatment: This principle prohibits administrative bodies from showing unequal treatment towards similar factual circumstances if there are no substantial grounds for differentiation in similar cases. By enshrining this principle, the legislator aimed to create uniform practice to prevent biased approaches.
4. Principle of Presumption of Validity: In practice, this principle is perhaps the most ignored by administrative bodies, resulting in adverse consequences for the applicant. The essence of this principle is that the data and information you provide to the administrative body regarding your application are considered valid in all cases unless the administrative body proves otherwise. The law directly states that it is prohibited to require individuals to provide documents or additional information that confirm the data and information they have submitted unless such a requirement is established by law. In other words, if you have submitted any document containing information related to your application to the administrative body, and the administrative body has doubts about its authenticity, then the burden of proving the invalidity of that information lies with the administrative body.
5. Limiting Discretionary Powers: Discretionary power is the right granted to the administrative body by law to choose one of several possible lawful solutions. At the same time, the law limits the right to exercise discretionary powers by establishing an obligation for the administrative body to base its actions on the necessity to protect the rights and freedoms of individuals and citizens enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, as well as the fundamental principles of administrative procedure.