Competence complaints

The Supreme Administrative Court is entitled to hear disputes over competence (section 97 and following of the Code of Administrative Justice). A conflict of competence may arise between a state authority and a self-governing authority, between two self-governing authorities or between two state authorities respectively. Two types of conflicts of competence may arise; positive or negative. A positive conflict of competence involves a situation in which two or more authorities claim the competence to decide an issue. A negative conflict of competence, which is more common in practice, involves the situation in which neither of the authorities feels competent to decide. The most complex type of competence complaints tends to be disputes between two state authorities, typically ministries.