Administrative Acts: Definition, Elements, and Appeals

Posted on Jun 1, 2025 in Law

Administrative Act: Definition and Scope

A declaration of will, knowledge, or judgment dictated by the public administration in exercising its administrative activity, which has legal effect.

Features of an Administrative Act

  • It is legally binding, differentiating it from material acts.
  • Administrative acts are dictated by the executive administration.
  • As a power, they are subject to administrative law.

Classes of Administrative Acts

By the Issuing Organ:

  • Simple Act: Issued by a single administrative body, even if composed of multiple individuals.
  • Complex Act: Issued by several administrative departments.

By its Effects and Scope:

  • Singular Act: Affects one person.
  • Plural Act: Affects several people.

By its Place in the Administrative Record:

  • Final Act: Concludes the administrative process file.
  • Procedural Act: Reflects any stage of the procedure.

By the Administration’s Margin of Action:

  • Regulated Act: The Administration must act strictly as directed by law.
  • Discretionary Act: When the Administration has a margin for action, though it must always respect the law.

By Externalization of the Act:

  • Express Act: When the Administration expresses itself in writing or through a record.
  • Presumed Act (Administrative Silence): When the Administration does not respond specifically to requests, complaints, appeals, or queries from stakeholders. In these cases, administrative silence is said to occur. This can be positive (e.g., an approved application) or negative (e.g., a denied application).

Elements of an Administrative Act

Subjective Element:

Refers to the person or body that has the power to issue such an act. For it to be valid, the following circumstances must be met:

  • It must originate from the Administration.
  • It must be dictated by a competent body.
  • The body issuing the administrative act must be legally in possession of the office.
  • The person dictating the act must be impartial.

Objective Element:

Refers to the content of the administrative act. It may include:

  • The behavior of an administrative body or another determined body.
  • A declaration of a legal situation.

The Administration’s action should be:

  • Lawful (subject to the law).
  • Possible.
  • Certain or determinable.

Final Element:

Any action or activity of the public administration must pursue the public interest.

Formal Element:

  • Motivation: The reason for an administrative measure.
  • Notification: The Administration must notify stakeholders of decisions affecting their rights and interests. If not notified, it is as if it were not dictated. Two types:
    • Personal: Most commonly used. Notification is made at the interested party’s home.
    • Non-personal: When stakeholders are unknown or their whereabouts are unknown, the notice must be published on the City Council’s bulletin board and in corresponding official bulletins.

Acts That May Be Null

  • Those that adversely affect fundamental rights and freedoms recognized in the Constitution.
  • Dictated by an organ without functional or territorial jurisdiction.
  • Those with impossible content.
  • Those made without respecting the law.

Act Annulments

Those that violate the law or cause helplessness to the person concerned.

Interested Parties

  • Those who hold legitimate rights or interests.
  • Those whose rights may be affected by the decision taken.

Administrative Appeal

A petition made by a citizen before a public administration requesting the modification or annulment of an administrative act that they consider harms or violates their rights.

General Principles of Administrative Appeals

  • Subject of the Appeal: Individuals interested in the modification or annulment of the administrative act.
  • Purpose of the Appeal: The administrative act or measure being challenged.
  • Written Submission: The appeal must be submitted in writing, including name, ID number, date, and adherence to deadlines.
  • Deadlines for Filing and Processing: The subject has statutory time limits for filing an appeal.
  • Effects of Filing an Appeal:
    • The Administration is obliged to resolve all appeals.
    • The body that must resolve the appeal should not delegate to another.
    • Filing an appeal does not suspend the execution of the act being appealed.

Types of Administrative Appeals

Ordinary Appeals:

Appeals filed against any act for legality review.

Appeal in Elevation:

Filed against resolutions that administratively terminate or prevent the continuation of administrative formalities. The term for filing is 1 month from notification. The appeal is lodged with the body that issued the act, and the superior body resolves it.

Appeal for Reconsideration:

Filed against acts that terminate administrative proceedings. The body that dictated the act will resolve it.

Special Appeal:

Filed against acts that terminate administrative proceedings or those that have not been challenged within the established period. The term is 3 months, and it is resolved by the same body that issued them.