Standing in Administrative Litigation: Between Harm and Legal Interest

Abstract

This volume asks whether a person affected by a disposition qualifies to seek its revocation. The fact of being affected and an interest protected by law are not the same concept. Independently of whether the person is the direct addressee, the protective norm and its link to the infringement must be established. The path to relief opens where there is a legally protected interest that would be restored by the revocation or confirmation of the disposition in question and the requirements specific to each type of action, such as an application, are also satisfied, and closes where there is only a general and indirect concern for the public interest and no individually protected legal interest is recognized. The six sections address, in turn, harm and legal interest, rights beyond the direct addressee, individual interests and the general public interest, differing proof within the zone of environmental impact, after the effects of a disposition have ended, and differences in standing by type of action. The strongest counterargument is as follows. If legal interest is narrowed, the more widely harm is spread, the less anyone is able to challenge it. The right to information disclosure in general, proportionality review, and the illegality of acts by state organs are not addressed in this volume.