Vázanost veřejné správy

The Binding of Public Administration by Law Where persons engaged in public administration rely on public authority they are required to act only in cases, within the limits and in the manner determined by the law (Art. 2 (3) of the Constitution). This rule may appear to be simple. Examining this rule from the material perspective we find out that its enforcement is rather a complex and ambivalent procedure having an immediate impact not only upon the division of powers in the state, but also upon the feasibility of the protection of basic rights and freedoms of citizens. These values in a modern state based on the rule of law are gradually more and more endangered by complicated legal systems, expanding tasks assigned to public administration and their legislative expression, the process of globalization, as well as by the multiplication of administrative bodies. Traditional analyses of the strict binding of public administration by the law on the one hand, and its discretionary powers (administrative discretion) on the other, cannot fully describe its real position, particularly with respect to new modes of its application, such as activities of its regulators or significantly wider supervisory authority often resulting from blanket laws. The significance of (administrative) courts in the application of legal principles in individual cases is higher today than it used to be in the past; however, the questions arises whether the courts are able to sufficiently protect the values of the states based on the rule of law.