| Case handling guide |
Filing of Administrative Case
A plaintiff can file a case by submitting a plaint by oneself to an official or an administrative official, or by registered mail addressed to the Office of the Administrative Courts according to his or her intention. Generally, a plaint has to be submitted to an Administrative Court of First Instance in whose jurisdiction the plaintiff is domiciled or the cause of action has arisen. A case within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Administrative Court shall be directly filed with the Supreme Administrative Court.
Conditions of the Filing of Administrative Cases
Although the process in the filing of administrative cases is quite simple, there shall be some conditions of the filing as prescribed by law in order to prevent the vexatious and ungrounded cases which may cause difficulties to the defendant and the Courts. Furthermore, to enable the Courts to address the plaintiff’s grievance and injury systematically and precisely, the law stipulates the following four conditions:
1. Plaintiff
A plaintiff is any person who is aggrieved or injured or who may be aggrieved or injured as a result of an act or omission by a state agency or state official or who has a dispute in connection with an administrative contract or other case falling within the jurisdiction of the Administrative Court.
2. Time of Filing an Administrative Case
An administrative case must be filed within the time prescribed by law.
3. Plaint
There is no specific form of plaint for the plaintiff to fill out when he or she files the administrative case with the Administrative Court. However, a plaint shall be written in polite language and contain relevant information; including the name, address, and signature of the plaintiff as well as the name and address of the administrative agency concerned; all acts constituting justification for the plaint; and a motion on how the plaintiff would like the Administrative Court to adjudicate.
4. Requirement for the preliminary redress of a grievance before filing a case with the Administrative Court
In some cases, the law prescribes a process or procedure for redress of the grievance or injury before filing a case with the Administrative Court. The plaintiff is obliged to exhaust such prescribed remedies before exercising his or her rights to file the case with the Administrative Court.
Time Frame for Filing a Case
An administrative case shall be filed within the period of time defined by law as follows:
1. In a case involving a dispute in relation to an unlawful act by an administrative agency or state official, whether in connection with the issuance of a rule or an administrative order or any other act inconsistent with the law; the plaintiff shall submit a plaint to an Administrative Court within 90 days as from the day the cause of action is known or should have been known.
2. In a case involving a dispute in relation to an administrative agency or state official neglecting official duties as required by the law or an unreasonable delay in performing such duties; the plaintiff shall submit a plaint to an Administrative Court within 90 days as from the day the cause of action is known or should have been known.
2.1 In a case which the plaintiff makes a request in writing to an administrative agency or state official to perform duties but the administrative agency neglects the duty or performs the duty only after an unreasonable delay, the time period of ninety days for the submission of the plaint shall commence from the date the plaintiff makes the request in writing.
2.2 In a case which the plaintiff receives a written notice from the agency and considers that the explanation is unreasonable, the time period of ninety days for the submission of the plaint shall commence from the date the plaintiff receives the notice.
3. The case involving a wrongful act or other liabilities shall be filed within 1 year as from the day the cause of action is known or should have been known but the filing shall not be later than 10 years as from the date of such cause of action.
4. The case involving an administrative contract shall be filed within 5 years as from the day the cause of action is known or should have been known but the filing shall not be later than 10 years as from the date of such cause of action.
5. The case involving the protection of public interest ex. case filing regarding the annulment of title deed issued to public swamps or a dispute on status of an individual person shall be filed at any time.
6. The Court shall accept the out of due dated case filing for trial and adjudication if the court has the opinion that the case will be of benefit or will have a necessary cause.
