Abstract

Influence of German Administrative Right on the Doctrine of Administrative Law in Poland

The influence of German administrative law on administrative legal scholarship in Poland can be subdivided into three parts. During the Second Republic (1918–1939), that influence was seen as a natural element of the familiar relationship between the legal systems of Austria and Germany on the one hand and Poland on the other hand. Scientific (scholarly) contacts between universities were supported by considerable language abilities of professors. That influence weakened only in the final years before World War II. In the second phase of occupation and annihilation of the Polish elite, the import of German administrative law stopped and this remained to be so for many years after the end of the war. However, even during that period there were singular instances of German pre-war sources being quoted in Polish administrative law underground literature. The third phase which deserves extensive treatment was closely related to the establishment of the Polish-German Colloquia on administrative matters. In this way, the current close cooperation was prepared and the basis for an internationalisation of law established. The colloquia continue to this day, and they also helped to prepare the systematic transformation of Poland before the political turnover in 1989. An area most strongly influenced by German administrative law is the law of local government.